STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

My soul, how lovely is the place Paraphrased. C. M Delight in ordinances of worship; or, God present in his churches

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 84:1–4, 10, printed in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated, where he set the psalms "in the language of the New Testament".

WRITTEN BY

Isaac Watts 1674–1748

PRINTED

1719 The Psalms of David Imitated · no. 3

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 9 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 84:1–4, 10 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 9 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.

SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes

AMONG THE SCRIPTURES

The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.

a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here

STANZA I

My soul, how lovely is the place

To which thy God resorts!

'Tis heaven to see his smiling face,

Tho' in his earthly courts.

No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 84:1–4, 10, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts! 2My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she places her young near Your altars, O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God. 4How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah 10For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. PSALM 84:1–4, 10 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 84

My heart and flesh cry out for thee, While far from thine abode: When shall I tread thy courts, and see My Saviour and my God? STANZA V

Its place in the book

Watts's psalms run from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150, several settings to many psalms: 367 hymns. This is number 3. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 3 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN My soul, how lovely is the place

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