A WORD FOR TODAY, November 25, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 25, 2025
Isaac Watts was born in Southampton in 1674. It was a turbulent time in England, with dissent rampant in the church. The official church of England was the Anglican Church; it was the church that held the power, the monarchy, the politicians, and every other aspect of life in the land. The effects of the Protestant Reformation had made their ways into the congregations of England with people following the teachings of men like Calvin and Luther. Isaac Watts and his family were nonconformists. They were part of a movement that did not think that the Anglican Church had gone far enough reforming the Church. There was persecution, but most of all, the nonconformists were not able to attend university.
Isaac Watts was brilliant, obvious from a very early age. He learned Latin, Greek, French and Hebrew by the time he was thirteen. Someone recognized his abilities and offered to send him to Oxford or Cambridge. He would have been readily accepted if he renounced his nonconformist convictions. He could not do so but decided to attend an academy sponsored by the Dissenters, an institution created for those denied acceptance at the universities. He was a prolific writer. He began writing poetry while he was in school. He wrote works on logic, theology, metaphysics, astronomy, and even children’s books. He was known as a powerful and inspirational preacher. His congregation hung on his every word. However, he is best known for his hymns.
Isaac Watts was part of a church that followed Calvinist teachings. They believed that the only acceptable music in worship was the singing of psalms or scripture. Isaac found the music to be awkward, sad, and stodgy. He felt that the music was putting people off worship. His father answered, “Why don’t you write a hymn.” He wrote his first hymn that day and the congregation sang it at worship that evening. He went on to write more than six hundred hymns. Some thought that his hymns were too worldly for the church. His work split many congregations and got many pastors fired. Isn’t it amazing how more than two hundred years can pass and we are still dealing with similar problems? How many churches are facing upheaval because some want to introduce contemporary music and others think it is too worldly?
There was nothing about Isaac Watts that was extraordinary, but he was unusual. He suffered from recurring emotional and physical problems. He faced persecution for his passions. But he had a deep and personal understanding of the grace of God, how He takes over our lives with His love and draws us into His heart. He celebrated the immensity of God, seeing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as seemingly insignificant moments that had eternal significance. He knew that God was bigger than our human imaginations could ever envisage. His hymns often had a theme of God’s sovereignty, His majesty, His rule overall.
He wrote, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” And “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.” In his music we see Jesus Christ as our King. We see His Kingdom, and we see that the cross is where it all began.
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