STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands &c. C. M Christ's first and second coming

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 96:1, 10–13, 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. 1

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 96:1, 10–13 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 6 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

Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands

Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,

Ye tribes of every tongue;

His new discover'd grace demands

A new and nobler song.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 96:1, 10–13, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 10Declare among the nations: “The LORD reigns!” The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity. 11Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it. 12Let the fields exult, and all that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13before the LORD, for He is coming— He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness. PSALM 96:1, 10–13 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 96

Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands, Ye tribes of every tongue; His new discover'd grace demands A new and nobler song. STANZA I

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

NO. 1 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands

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