Hello and welcome to another episode of Giants of the Faith. My name is Robert Daniels and I'm the host of this show. This is the podcast where we examine the lives of men and women from the age of the Church who have made an impact on this world for the Kingdom of God. We're still in the midst of a series focused on some of the great hymn writers. Today's episode is focused on, as my good friend Pastor Dave Ungar would say, the big mamma jamma. He's the Father of English Hymnody, the genius of logic and theology, the Master of Metre, the Puritan Poet, the Prince of Praise, the dissenting unrelenting Southampton Singer, Isaac "Wondrous" Watts.

Well, silly introductions aside, Isaac Watts was a remarkable man. He was born on July 17, 1674 in Southampton, England. His father was also Isaac, or maybe Enoch - I found conflicting reports - and his mother was Elizabeth. His family was staunchly dissenting, also known as non-conforming. And it simply describes those in England who thought the Church of England had not moved far enough away from the Roman Catholic Church and so they refused to conform to it. His father was actually imprisoned for his beliefs the year before Isaac was born. He was still in jail when Isaac was born and would be jailed two more times in his life. 

Isaac was a bright child and received a classical education at the King Edward VI School in Southampton. He began to learn Latin at age 4 followed by Greek, French, and Hebrew. He was a small sickly child but an excellent student and a very religious boy. In 1689, at age 15 he put his trust in Christ.

He was such an intelligent kid that the town physician, Dr. John Speed, offered to pay for Watts' university education. He was barred from attending Oxford or Cambridge, however, because those schools only allowed Anglican students at the time and Watts refused to surrender his nonconformity. So he declined the offer and went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington, London, instead.

He finished school in 1694 and returned home spent the next two years writing. This is probably when he wrote his masterwork Logic or The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth. In this book Watts addresses what he termed the four basic functions of the human mind - perception, judgement, reasoning, and disposition. His work was used for the next 200 years as an instructional text at schools like Harvard, Yale, and ironically Oxford and Cambridge.

This period is also when he began writing hymns. The story goes that the music in his church was so dreadful that he felt compelled to complain about it to his father. Songs generally consisted of the Biblical Psalms and were uninspired. So Watts' father told him to do something about it. And Watts' career as a hymnist was born. He began to distribute his music throughout the Southampton area and it was extremely popular.

In 1696 Watts took a position as tutor and chaplain to the Hartopp family in Leicestershire. He stayed in that role almost three years. While he was with the Hartopp's he worshipped at Mark Lane Church and on his birthday in 1698 he preached his first sermon. In 1699 he was brought on as assistant pastor at Mark Lane and then in 1702 he became the sole pastor of the church. During this time he became ill. His nervous system was affected and it led to chronic insomnia. His ill health also prevented him from writing and studying as he wished.

So in 1703 he brought in an assistant of his own and then hired an amanuensis (a-man-you-in-sis), which is a fancy word for a literary assistant. I had to look it up. This allowed him to write and in 1705 he published the book Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. It was well received and helped establish his reputation.

The success of the book and some encouragement from his brother Enoch led him to publish, in 1707, his classic Hymns and Spiritual Songs, in three volumes. The first edition contained 222 hymns. The second and third added another 72. His work was so popular, and so unlike anything that had come before, that it became the first hymnbook in common use. He literally singlehandedly reinvented the practice of worship through song in the Christian Church. 

In 1712 he was invited to spend a week in the home of Sir Thomas Abney in Hertfordshire. Like the Hotel California, he checked in but he never left. He spent the rest of his life with the Abneys, even after the death of Sir Thomas. Thomas died in 1720 but his wife allowed Watts to continue in residence - even when the family moved to a new home until his death. Her role as a caretaker for the constantly sick and weak Watts is credited with allowing him to continue his work.

In 1716 he published the Guide to Prayer. Then he began converting the Psalms for use in modern church worship. He paraphrased and adapted many of the Psalms with updated Christian themes. For this he received some pushback but on the whole this work was received gladly. One such song is the ever popular Joy to the World, based on Psalm 98. But it is a reimagining of it in Christian terms.

Watts' health prevented him from doing much preaching but he stayed busy in other ways In 1720 he published Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children which is perhaps his most popular publication. It is exactly as its title describes. Over the next decades he published volumes of sermons, as well as works on philosophy, logic, theology and politics. He was a fan of the American Great Awakening and the British Methodist movement, as well.

Isaac Watts died on November 25, 1748 at the Abney home in Stoke Newington. He was 74 years old. There are numerous statues, plaques, and memorials honoring his impact. In all he published over 50 works and wrote some 750 hymns. Some of his more famous include At the Cross, Our God Our Help in Ages Past, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and Jesus Shall Reign. It would be irresponsible to do a series on hymn writers and exclude Watts. He is clearly a Giant of the Faith.

Thanks very much for listening. Until next time, God bless.

RESOURCES

Wholesome Words: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwatts7.html

Banner of Truth: https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/isaac-watts/

Christian Classics Ethereal Library: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts

The Reformed Reader: https://www.reformedreader.org/watts.htm

Evangelical Movement of Wales: https://www.emw.org.uk/2020/05/when-i-survey/