I Sing the Mighty Pow’r of God

I Sing the Mighty Pow’r of God

By: Isaac Watts 1709

Commonly sung to: “Ellacombe” and sometimes “Zerah”

Here are two YouTube recordings:

(Ellacombe) http://youtu.be/NI1aL8uAZCk

(Zerah) http://youtu.be/T59AmMKWIIo

1. I sing the mighty pow’r of God, that made the mountains rise,
   That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
   I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
   The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey.
2. I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
   Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
   Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
   If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.
3. There’s not a plant or flow’r below, but makes Thy glories known,
   And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
   While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
   And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, art present there.

Though Isaac Watts had no children of his own, he was very concerned with the education of children. He wrote an entire book of children’s songs called: “Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language, for the Use of Children (1715)” for use in worship and education. “I Sing the Mighty Pow’r of God” is the only one left in common use.

Its original title was: “Praise for Creation and Providence”. Though traditionally titles are taken from the opening phrase of the text, the original title covers the entirety of the text very appropriately. The first two stanzas speak to the various manifestations of God’s power and goodness. It is His power which made the mountains and seas and set the sun to rule the day and the moon the night. It is His goodness which filled the earth with food and made all of the creatures. In every aspect of the creation the providence and power of God can be seen; from the flowers to the storms, everything is in His order and care.

Much has changed in the 300 years since this text was penned. In Isaac’s time, life could be easily described and short and brutish. Disease, war, famine, and death were a daily presence. The notion that we should expect anything less if God was indeed “good” was inconceivable. Life was a continuous dance with death. Yet, out of this existence, which would be seen as utter barbarous to a 21^st Century American gave rise to this exquisite recognition of the undeniable evidence of God’s hand in all of life. And we, as simply borrowers of life for a short time, must continue to see God’s presence in his creation and our experience of it.