Isaac Watts’ Poetic Wonders

The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts by Douglas Bond.
Ligonier Ministries, 2013. 163 pages.

Known as “the Father of English Hymnody,” Isaac Watts authored more than 750 hymns in his lifetime, including classics such as “Joy to the World” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

Responsible for a significant number of the hymns dearly cherished by Christian churches, Watts the man, a theologian and logician, is little-known to many who sing his songs in worship.

Author Douglas Bond’s The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts is a helpful primer on the 17^th century hymn-writer. Sixth in the series, “A Long Line of Godly Men” published by Reformed discipleship organization Ligonier Ministries, each book is helpful, concise, and engaging.

Bond, a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, doesn’t aim for an expansive biography dedicated to intricate detail. Instead, after a brief biographical sketch of Watts’ life and legacy, the Western Reformed Seminary instructor in church history considers Watts’ life in context, examining parts of his life and ministry, including his parents and the strict academic environment in which he was raised.

Poetry played a central role in Watts’ education and early life, gifted with an ability to compose rhymes in his head without writing on paper. His parents noticed early on, offering initial encouragement. Constantly rhyming became an annoyance and, eventually, his father forbade him to rhyme at all.

Forbidden to rhyme aloud, Watts instead penned poetry. Watts’ mother eventually found some of the written poems, asking if they were her son’s work but disbelieving him as the compositions seemed overly sophisticated for a 7-year-old author. She decided if they were indeed Isaac’s work, he could produce something of a similar depth. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he wrote her a poem on the spot:

I am a vile and polluted lump of earth;
So I’ve continued since my birth;
Although Jehovah grace does daily give me,
As sure this monster Satan will deceive me.
Come, therefore, Lord, from Satan’s claws relieve me.
Wash me in Thy blood, O Christ,
And grace divine impart.
Then search and try the corners of my heart,
That I in all things may be fit to do
Service to Thee, and sing Thy praises too.

Depth of Gospel understanding characterized the piece that Watts also formed into an acrostic spelling his name.

Bond’s book includes eight chapters examining an area of Watts’ life and ministry: Watts as Educator, Watts’ Sermon Hymns, Watts as Lyric Poet, Watts as Hymn Writer, Watts as Poet Theologian, Watts as Children’s Poet, Watts as Psalm Interpreter, and Watts for Our Time. 

Watts’ unique, God-given ability to author hymns characterized by both musical excellence and theological depth is intriguing for its own sake and has contemporary application for Christians.

“As the church casts about, trying to find out how we should do church, how we should worship, and particularly how we should sing in our worship, Watts can provide us with a theological and poetic anchor. ‘The Father of English Hymnody’ gives us the perfect combination that everyone in the church ought to be striving to reach: passion and feeling grounded on solid theological foundations,” Bond writes.

Bond argues that 21^st century Christians need to recover an understanding of who Watts was – and why he matters.

“We need [Watts’] poetry to aid us in recovering a sanctified understanding and imagination. We need him to help reform worship and singing in our churches today. And all of us who have ever felt marginalized for our frailty, our unattractiveness, our lack of formal learning in elite schools, or for any other limitation — real or perceived — need Watts. All people will find a wealth of enrichment and encouragement by learning more of the poetic wonder of Isaac Watts.”