STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Lord what a feeble piece S. M The frailty and shortness of life

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 90:5, 10, 12, 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. 5

METRE

Short Metre 6.6.8.6 · 5 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 90:5, 10, 12 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 5 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

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 90:5, 10, 12, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

5You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— 10The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom. PSALM 90:5, 10, 12 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 90

Our moments fly apace, Nor will our minutes stay; Just like a flood our hasty days Are sweeping us away. STANZA III

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 5. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 5 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Lord what a feeble piece

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