Sacred Harp: "Thy Beauties Are Divine" (Isaac Watts)

Isaac Watts, the story goes, was absolutely dismayed by the dreary music he heard in the Church of England's Psalter. When he complained to his father, his father challenged him to do better if he thought he could improve on what King David wrote. Isaac Watts indeed went on to write over 600 hymns, many of which found widespread use in Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian hymnals. Most of those hymns were composed when he was between the ages of 20 and 22. Many hymns by Isaac Watts have found their way into the Sacred Harp hymnal. This one is a wonderful example of a hymn of adoration.

Tune: Raymond C. Hamrick, 1980

 Words: Isaac Watts, 1719

My Savior and my King,

Thy beauties are divine;

Thy lips with blessing overflow,

And ev’ry grace is Thine.

The smilings of Thy face,

How amiable they are;

’Tis heav’n to rest in Thine embrace,

And nowhere else but there.

Nor earth, nor all the sky,

Can one delight afford;

No, not a drop of Thy real joy,

Without Thy presence, Lord.