{"id":1544,"date":"2010-10-25T16:28:46","date_gmt":"2010-10-25T20:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=1544"},"modified":"2013-06-17T14:08:46","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T18:08:46","slug":"isaac-watts-pastoral-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=1544","title":{"rendered":"Isaac Watts’ Pastoral Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been reading recently on Isaac Watts who has blessed the church so richly with his hymns.\u00a0 Below is a good, though lesser known, example of Watts poetry (originally published in Hymns and Spiritual Songs<\/em>, 1707-1709).\u00a0 Many of Watt’s hymns were composed to accompany his sermons and you can see him as a pastor applying the balm of the gospel to his people’s souls.\u00a0 The beautiful hope of the gospel is clear as is his Christo-centric approach to the Scripture.<\/p>\n

May we so teach our people.<\/p>\n

Laden with guilt, and full of fears,
\nI fly to Thee, my Lord,
\nAnd not a glimpse of hope appears
\nBut in Thy written Word.<\/p>\n

The volume of my Father’s grace
\nDoes all my griefs assuage;
\nHere I behold my Savior’s face
\nAlmost in every page.<\/p>\n

This is the field where hidden lies
\nThe pearl of price unknown;
\nThat merchant is divinely wise
\nWho makes the pearl his own.<\/p>\n

Here consecrated water flows
\nTo quench my thirst of sin;
\nHere the fair tree of knowledge grows,
\nNor danger dwells therein.<\/p>\n

This is the Judge that ends the strife
\nWhere wit and reason fail,
\nMy guide to everlasting life
\nThrough all this gloomy vale.<\/p>\n

O may Thy counsels, mighty God,
\nMy roving feet command;
\nNor I forsake the happy road
\nThat leads to Thy right hand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been reading recently on Isaac Watts who has blessed the church so richly with his hymns.\u00a0 Below is a good, though lesser known, example of Watts poetry (originally published in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707-1709).\u00a0 Many of Watt’s hymns were composed to accompany his sermons and you can see him as a pastor …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Isaac Watts’ Pastoral Poetry’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13,261,16,191],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2741,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544\/revisions\/2741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}