WEBVTT

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 If you're visiting us, you're more than welcome. We're doing something slightly different tonight.

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 Normally we would have a service, we'd sing some songs, we'd crack open a portion of scripture and look at it together.

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 But because this is our last evening service before the summer, we thought we'd do something a little different.

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 I thought it would be a treat. Well, I think it's a treat, but you'll have to tell me afterwards whether it was a treat.

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 We're going to look at the life of Isaac Watts.

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 Paul exhorts the Colossians and he says this.

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 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

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 That's what Paul writes and there's a really enlightening assertion in that exhortation.

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 Singing, according to Paul, and we know this from experience, has a peculiar ability to penetrate the heart and resonate in the soul.

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 Looking back over your life, I dare say you can remember the choruses you sung at Sunday school much better than the memory verses that you learnt.

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 I bet you can remember the top 40 songs growing up much better than you can the paragraphs of the books that you read.

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 Therefore, what we sing isn't just a filler of time.

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 It's not just an option for the enthusiastic.

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 It's not just an opportunity to showcase our musical abilities.

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 Singing is a God-ordained means to grow hearts that are overflowing with the message of Christ.

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 We sing to help us learn of, focus on and respond to God in corporate worship.

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 We sing to help us learn of, focus on and respond to God in corporate worship.

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 So if this is the case, then Isaac Watts is a man worthy of our study.

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 The man aptly described as the father of hymnody, the pastor hymnologist, the scribe of experiential doctrine.

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 And his whole point was this, that theology must lead to doxology.

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 As we learn truths about God, it must lead us into authentic worship of God.

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 If you just have theology with no doxology, you've just got cold, dry orthodoxy.

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 That you know all the right stuff, but it hasn't penetrated your heart.

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 If you just have doxology without theology, then you're just singing for the sake of singing and it's an idol.

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 Because it's not informed about knowledge of God.

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 This was the big thing in Isaac Watts' life.

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 He wanted to teach truth, apply truth, and show people the right response to that truth.

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 And so that's who we're going to look at tonight.

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 So let's pray, and then we'll have a look at the life of Isaac Watts together.

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 I want to pray one of Isaac's hymns.

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 Let's pray.

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 Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, with all thy quickening powers,

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 kindle a flame of sacred love in these cold hearts of ours.

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 Look how we grovel here below, fond of these trifling toys.

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 Our souls can neither fly nor go to reach eternal joys.

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 In vain we tune our formal songs, in vain we strive to rise.

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 Hosannas languish on our tongues, and our devotion dies.

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 Dear Lord, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate?

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 Our love so faint, so cold to thee, and thine to us so great.

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 So come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, with all thy quickening powers.

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 Come shed abroad the Saviour's love, and that shall kindle us.

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 Amen.

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 The year is 1674.

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 The year of Isaac Watts' birth, and Britain is deeply troubled.

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 Eleven years before Isaac Watts was born,

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 the bubonic plague had swept through the country,

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 killing more than 100,000 people in London alone,

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 which was about a quarter of the total population of the capital city.

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 The city of Southampton, where Isaac Watts was born,

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 had almost been completely depopulated.

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 The town records talk about streets being overgrown with weeds,

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 because there was no one going along the thoroughfares.

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 1666 saw the great fire of London,

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 that had largely levelled the nation's capital.

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 So these big events add to the trouble that Britain was in,

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 but it was also in a tumultuous state,

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 when it looked at the religious and the political.

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 These affected Isaac Watts' life more than anything else.

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 The first half of the 18th century,

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 the 17th century saw the Roman Catholic Stuart monarchs

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 tried to assert their divine right to rule as absolutists

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 over both the church and the state.

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 Parliament became increasingly tokenistic,

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 and the two were inevitably to come to blows.

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 In 1642, Charles I engaged in a civil war with Parliament,

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 and he lost.

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 And he didn't just lose the battle, but he also lost his head,

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 because they beheaded him.

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 Oliver Cromwell assumed the role of Lord Protector,

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 and commenced efforts to unite the country in what was called the Commonwealth.

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 But he quickly found, as so many people in the past have,

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 real trouble with Scotland,

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 and with the Presbyterian Church in particular,

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 and so another civil war ensued.

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 Finally, in 1660, Parliament

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 invited Charles I's son, Charles II,

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 to assume the throne again,

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 thus reinstating the monarchy.

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 Think of all the monarchs in history,

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 Charles II definitely has the best hair.

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 Charles II, again,

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 sought to assert his divine right to rule

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 over both church and state.

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 This meant that he passed a law

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 that the Anglican Church was the only legitimate church,

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 and that everyone in the realm must attend

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 only an Anglican service.

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 The state of the Anglican Church is depicted in this painting by William Hogarth.

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 Hogarth depicts the minister preaching,

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 and his head is deeply buried in the books.

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 He's been going on a long time,

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 because the hourglass is almost completely empty of sand.

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 Not only has he been going on a long time,

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 and you can see it from the hourglass,

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 but all the congregation have fallen asleep.

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 Some of them have their mouths open,

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 and they're obviously snoring quite profusely.

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 The only person awake is the church clerk,

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 who's using the opportunity of a slumbering woman

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 to admire her ample bosom,

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 and to top it all.

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 You probably can't read it,

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 but the minister's text,

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 come to me, all who are weary,

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 and I will give you rest.

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 Thus, the act of uniformity,

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 saying you can only go to the Anglican Church,

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 was passed in 1662.

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 On the passing of the law,

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 2,000 Anglican ministers left the Church of England,

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 and became what are known as dissenters,

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 or non-conformists.

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 These Anglican ministers thought that the liturgy

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 of the Church of England

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 was still far too Roman Catholic,

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 and organised more by the traditions of men

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 than the content of the Bible.

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 These non-conformists were considered

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 a threat to the government,

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 and a potential cause of civil unrest.

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 There were a series of laws

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 inflicting heavy penalties

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 on those not conforming.

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 These included huge fines

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 that could be up to five years' wages

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 for a normal person.

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 They could be hefty prison sentences,

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 and people were even hanged

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 for not conforming.

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 If you didn't go to an Anglican service,

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 you were putting yourself in real danger.

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 It's at this time that we get the character

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 John Bunyan,

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 who was put in prison in Bedford for 12 years,

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 during which time he penned Pilgrim's Progress.

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 There was another non-conforming minister

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 called Nathaniel Robertson in Southampton.

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 He was the minister of All Saints Church,

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 but at the passing of the Act of Uniformity,

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 he left and started a new church

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 called Above Bar Church,

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 which continues to this day.

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 In fact, Roger Carswell was preaching there

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 this morning, and he will be preaching.

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 Well, probably not yet,

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 in about eight minutes tonight.

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 My parents went to Above Bar Church

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 when they lived in Southampton.

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 One of the church leaders of Above Bar Church

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 was a deacon,

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 whose name really helpfully

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 was also called Isaac Senior Watts.

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 He was a cloth maker.

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 He ran a boarding school.

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 And so on the 17th of July, 1674,

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 the day of Isaac Watts Jr.'s birth,

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 his father, Isaac Watts Sr.,

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 was serving a second prison sentence

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 for being a non-conformist.

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 His mother, Sarah Taunton Watts,

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 was a descendant from a French Protestant family

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 who had fled France in 1572

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 after the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

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 She would nurse Isaac on the steps

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 outside the prison,

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 conversing and encouraging her husband,

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 who was paying the highest price

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 for his convictions

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 about the way church was supposed to happen.

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 Isaac Watts Sr. would be in and out of prison

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 for all young Isaac's childhood,

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 and when not locked up,

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 he'd be in forced exile in London.

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 However, even in absence,

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 Isaac Watts Sr. took great responsibility

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 for bringing his children up

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 in the things of God.

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 In total, Isaac Sr. and Sarah

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 would have eight children,

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 of which Isaac Watts Jr. was the oldest,

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 but their two youngest daughters

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 wouldn't live beyond a year of life.

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 We have a lovely letter

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 preserved from Isaac Watts Sr.

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 to the family

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 during one of these exiles in London.

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 And I think it gives us an insight

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 into what a spiritual man he was

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 and what an influence he was

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 in the life of this man

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 that we're here to study, Isaac.

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 He starts the letter like this.

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 My dear children,

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 though it has pleased God

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 to suffer the malice of ungodly men,

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 the enemies of Jesus Christ

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 and my enemies for his sake,

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 to break out so far against me

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 is to remove me from you

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 in my personal habitation,

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 thereby at once bereaving me

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 of that comfort

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 which I might have hoped for

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 in the enjoyment of my family in peace,

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 and you of that education

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 which my love as a father

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 and duty as a parent requires me to give.

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 Yet such are the longings of my soul

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 for your good and prosperity,

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 especially in spiritual concernments,

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 that I remember you always with myself

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 in my daily prayers

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 addressed to the throne of grace.

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 Then he writes some further instructions.

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 He writes this about their Bible study.

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 I charge you frequently

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 to read the Holy Scriptures

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 and not as a task or burden laid on you,

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 but get your hearts

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 to delight in them daily.

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 He then writes about their sinful nature

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 and God's salvation.

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 He says to his six remaining children,

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 consider seriously

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 and often the sinful

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 and miserable estate

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 you are in by nature

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 and that you are liable

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 to eternal wrath thereupon.

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 Also think upon the way

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 of fallen man's recovery by grace

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 according to the foundational principles

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 of the Christian religion

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 which you have learnt in your catechism

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 and beg of God by prayer

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 to give you understanding in them

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 and faith to believe in Jesus Christ

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 and a heart willing to yield obedience

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 to his gospel commands in all things.

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 He says,

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 learn to know God

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 according to the discoveries

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 he has made of himself

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 in and by his word,

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 in all his glorious attributes

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 and infinite perfections.

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 Especially learn to know him

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 in and through the Lord Jesus Christ

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 and to be acquainted

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 with this blessed redeemer

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 of God's people.

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 He finishes the letter

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 with these words,

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 do not entertain any hard thoughts

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 of God or of his ways

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 because his people

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 are persecuted for them.

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 For Jesus Christ himself

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 was persecuted to death

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 by wicked men

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 for preaching the gospel

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 and doing good

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 and the holy apostles

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 and prophets

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 were cruelly treated

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 for serving God

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 in his own way.

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 Then he writes this,

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 consider your mother.

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 She is left alone

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 to bear all the burdens

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 of bringing you up

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 and is, as it were,

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 a widow.

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 Her time is filled up

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 with many cares

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 and therefore do not grieve her

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 by any rebellious

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 or disobedient ways

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 but be willing to learn

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 from her

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 and be ruled by her

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 that she may have

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 some comfort

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 in seeing your obedient courage

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 and that it will rejoice me

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 to hear these things.

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 These things I charge

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 and command you

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 with the authority

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 and love of a father.

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 Now commending you to God

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 and what I have written

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 to his blessing

00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:36.899
 upon your hearts

00:15:36.899 --> 00:15:38.059
 through Jesus Christ

00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:39.879
 with my dear love

00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:40.939
 to your mother.

00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:42.939
 It's quite a letter,

00:15:43.099 --> 00:15:43.379
 isn't it,

00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:45.239
 to send to small children

00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.740
 but it shows the gravity

00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:48.580
 with which he took

00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:49.340
 the responsibility

00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:50.159
 as a parent

00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:50.799
 and particularly

00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:52.019
 his earnestness

00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:54.500
 that they knew God.

00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.419
 Isaac was a precocious child.

00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:00.539
 He was literally a genius

00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:03.340
 and that word is so overused.

00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:05.759
 He started to learn Latin

00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:06.539
 from his father

00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:08.820
 at the age of four.

00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:11.919
 He started learning Greek

00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:12.600
 at nine,

00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:14.279
 French at ten

00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:15.620
 and Hebrew

00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:17.039
 at thirteen.

00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:20.559
 When he was six,

00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:22.019
 he started the free school

00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:23.019
 in Southampton,

00:16:23.699 --> 00:16:24.339
 now called

00:16:24.339 --> 00:16:26.120
 King Edward VI Grammar School

00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:27.980
 that has as its alumni

00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:28.759
 none other than

00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:30.679
 Dr. Robert Gemmell.

00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:34.439
 When once was seven,

00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:35.220
 his mother found

00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:36.620
 some handwritten poems

00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:38.100
 in his room

00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:39.100
 and asked whether Isaac

00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:39.980
 had written them.

00:16:40.779 --> 00:16:42.319
 Isaac said he had,

00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.220
 but his mother doubted

00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:45.420
 that a child so young

00:16:45.420 --> 00:16:47.480
 could write such verse.

00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:48.980
 So she got Isaac

00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:50.460
 to sit at the kitchen table

00:16:50.460 --> 00:16:52.140
 with a quill and paper

00:16:52.140 --> 00:16:52.720
 and said,

00:16:53.140 --> 00:16:53.980
 write something.

00:16:55.160 --> 00:16:55.700
 Instantly,

00:16:55.860 --> 00:16:56.680
 he wrote this,

00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:59.579
 I am a vile polluted lump

00:16:59.579 --> 00:17:00.299
 of earth,

00:17:00.459 --> 00:17:01.439
 so I've continued

00:17:01.439 --> 00:17:02.620
 since my birth.

00:17:02.959 --> 00:17:03.939
 Although Jehovah

00:17:03.939 --> 00:17:05.700
 grace does daily give me,

00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:07.980
 as sure as this monster

00:17:07.980 --> 00:17:08.960
 will deceive me,

00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:09.940
 come therefore,

00:17:10.179 --> 00:17:10.559
 Lord,

00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.940
 from Satan's claws

00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:12.679
 relieve me.

00:17:13.179 --> 00:17:14.419
 Wash me in thy blood,

00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:15.139
 O Christ,

00:17:15.419 --> 00:17:16.940
 and grace divine impart,

00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:18.500
 and search and try

00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:19.899
 the corners of my heart,

00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:22.059
 that I in all things

00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:23.139
 may be fit to do

00:17:23.139 --> 00:17:24.399
 service to thee

00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:26.200
 and sing thy praises too.

00:17:27.259 --> 00:17:28.180
 What if he did that

00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:28.860
 at six,

00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:30.160
 at seven?

00:17:30.820 --> 00:17:31.860
 Which is amazing

00:17:31.860 --> 00:17:32.420
 in itself,

00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:33.100
 but when you look

00:17:33.100 --> 00:17:33.880
 at the first letters

00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:34.540
 of each line,

00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.620
 it spells Isaac Watts.

00:17:37.820 --> 00:17:39.420
 It's pretty handy.

00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:42.780
 It was also while

00:17:42.780 --> 00:17:43.759
 at the free school

00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.019
 in Southampton

00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:45.880
 that he writes this

00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:46.640
 in his journal.

00:17:48.800 --> 00:17:49.400
 1698,

00:17:49.560 --> 00:17:50.680
 fell under considerable

00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:51.980
 conviction of sin.

00:17:51.980 --> 00:17:54.319
 1689,

00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:56.940
 was taught to trust

00:17:56.940 --> 00:17:58.599
 in Christ.

00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:01.559
 On leaving the free school

00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:02.700
 in 1690,

00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:04.380
 Watts had a massive

00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:05.559
 decision to make.

00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:07.819
 He was a real celebrity

00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:08.380
 by now,

00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:09.680
 this child genius

00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:10.680
 in Southampton,

00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:12.660
 and a really wealthy local

00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:13.860
 called Dr. Speed

00:18:13.860 --> 00:18:15.819
 took a keen interest

00:18:15.819 --> 00:18:16.400
 in Isaac.

00:18:17.620 --> 00:18:18.740
 And he said to the parents,

00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:19.740
 I want to pay for you

00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:20.980
 to go to university.

00:18:20.980 --> 00:18:23.400
 There were only

00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:24.799
 two university options.

00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:25.740
 One was Oxford.

00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:27.759
 The other was Cambridge.

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:28.599
 It obviously wasn't

00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:29.819
 that special

00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:30.559
 to go to Oxford

00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.539
 or Cambridge back then

00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:32.140
 because you couldn't

00:18:32.140 --> 00:18:33.200
 go anywhere else.

00:18:34.900 --> 00:18:35.640
 There was only

00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:36.480
 one problem though.

00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.099
 You couldn't go to,

00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:39.960
 you could only go

00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:40.880
 to Oxford or Cambridge

00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:41.720
 if you were

00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:43.019
 an Anglican.

00:18:44.140 --> 00:18:44.960
 And so if you were

00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:45.860
 a non-conformist,

00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:46.839
 it wasn't open.

00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:48.539
 So he had a real choice

00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:50.039
 to make education

00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:50.980
 or conviction.

00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:54.720
 He declined the offer

00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.779
 from Dr. Speed

00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.579
 and set out

00:18:58.579 --> 00:18:59.279
 as a committed

00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.599
 non-conformist.

00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:02.059
 He enrolled

00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:03.879
 in a dissenting academy

00:19:03.879 --> 00:19:04.720
 which is where

00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.220
 non-conformists went

00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:07.319
 in Stoke Ewington

00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:08.460
 just outside London

00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:09.960
 under the tutelage

00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:11.740
 of Mr. Rowe.

00:19:12.940 --> 00:19:14.420
 He writes in his journal,

00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:15.800
 1690,

00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.019
 left grammar school

00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:18.060
 and came to London

00:19:18.060 --> 00:19:19.220
 to Mr. Rowe's

00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:21.380
 to study philosophy,

00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:22.140
 et cetera.

00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.320
 That word et cetera

00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:25.140
 is shorthand

00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:26.580
 for Latin, Greek,

00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:27.519
 Hebrew, maths,

00:19:27.620 --> 00:19:28.380
 history, geography,

00:19:28.539 --> 00:19:29.240
 natural sciences,

00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:30.160
 logic, rhetoric,

00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:31.480
 ethics, metaphysics,

00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:32.360
 anatomy, law,

00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:32.960
 and theology,

00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:35.960
 philosophy, et cetera.

00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.200
 This was in the midst

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:39.200
 of the Enlightenment

00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:40.560
 where a revolution

00:19:40.560 --> 00:19:41.039
 of thought

00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:42.259
 was taking place.

00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:44.099
 Traditional education

00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:45.119
 of maxims

00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:46.160
 and givens

00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:47.640
 was being undercut

00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:48.460
 by investigation

00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:49.259
 evidence

00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:50.839
 and reason.

00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:53.299
 And so this is

00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:54.740
 a real interesting time

00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:55.700
 to be educated.

00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:57.180
 And we'll see

00:19:57.180 --> 00:19:58.220
 Watts has a lot

00:19:58.220 --> 00:19:59.240
 to say about this

00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:00.700
 in a little while.

00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:02.619
 One Sunday

00:20:02.619 --> 00:20:03.700
 in 1690,

00:20:03.879 --> 00:20:04.740
 Watts was home

00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:06.099
 during a holiday

00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:06.660
 from the

00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:07.660
 dissenting academy.

00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:09.819
 The family

00:20:09.819 --> 00:20:10.700
 were on a walk

00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:12.119
 after the church service.

00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:13.960
 When Isaac shouted,

00:20:14.619 --> 00:20:15.059
 the singing

00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:16.180
 of God's praise

00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:16.779
 is the part

00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:17.319
 of worship

00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:18.579
 closest to heaven,

00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:20.960
 but its performance

00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:22.099
 among us

00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:23.339
 is the worst

00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:24.140
 on earth.

00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:27.359
 Church singing

00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.099
 at the time

00:20:28.099 --> 00:20:28.599
 was almost

00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:29.460
 exclusively

00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:30.539
 psalm singing

00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:33.980
 with the occasional

00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:34.379
 singing

00:20:34.379 --> 00:20:35.460
 of the Lord's Prayer

00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:37.339
 or the Ten Commandments.

00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:38.420
 I mean,

00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:39.279
 the Ten Commandments

00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:39.799
 has got to be

00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:41.180
 a tough worship song.

00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:46.660
 Watts described

00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:47.400
 them as

00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:49.140
 ugly hymns

00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:50.640
 and that

00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:51.440
 he was offended

00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:52.460
 by the gawkiness,

00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:53.299
 dullness

00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:54.560
 and crudity

00:20:54.560 --> 00:20:55.360
 of expression.

00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:56.820
 He's not there

00:20:56.820 --> 00:20:57.279
 saying that he

00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.200
 didn't like the psalms

00:20:58.200 --> 00:20:59.380
 that they were ugly,

00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:00.960
 but he really hated

00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:01.740
 the way they'd been

00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:02.340
 translated

00:21:02.340 --> 00:21:03.400
 and tried to put

00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:04.120
 into some kind

00:21:04.120 --> 00:21:05.480
 of hymn form.

00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:07.860
 Isaac Watts

00:21:07.860 --> 00:21:08.820
 Sr. replied

00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:10.559
 to young Isaac's

00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:11.039
 outburst.

00:21:11.139 --> 00:21:11.939
 If you do not like

00:21:11.939 --> 00:21:12.439
 the hymns,

00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:13.039
 young man,

00:21:13.659 --> 00:21:14.439
 then give us

00:21:14.439 --> 00:21:15.200
 something better.

00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:17.319
 That afternoon,

00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:17.980
 Watts

00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:20.079
 inked his quill

00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:20.980
 and wrote a hymn

00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:22.179
 of eight stanzas

00:21:22.179 --> 00:21:23.939
 based on Revelation

00:21:23.939 --> 00:21:24.720
 chapter 5

00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:26.079
 verses 6 to 12.

00:21:27.159 --> 00:21:28.220
 This is the hymn.

00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:30.779
 Behold the glories

00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:31.460
 of the Lamb

00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:32.180
 amidst his

00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:33.079
 Father's throne.

00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:34.220
 Prepare new

00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:35.039
 honours for his

00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:35.839
 name and sing

00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:36.940
 songs before

00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:37.960
 unknown.

00:21:38.600 --> 00:21:39.900
 Let elders

00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:40.839
 worship at his

00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:41.100
 feet,

00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:41.880
 the church

00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:43.299
 adore around,

00:21:43.779 --> 00:21:44.480
 with vials

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.380
 full of odour

00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:46.559
 sweet and harps

00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:47.660
 of sweeter sound.

00:21:48.140 --> 00:21:48.819
 Those are the

00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:49.620
 prayers of the

00:21:49.620 --> 00:21:50.039
 saints,

00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:51.160
 and these the

00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:52.100
 hymns they raise.

00:21:52.500 --> 00:21:53.400
 Jesus is kind

00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:54.440
 to our complaints,

00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:55.819
 he loves to hear

00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:56.579
 our praise.

00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:57.960
 Eternal Father,

00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:58.779
 who shall look

00:21:58.779 --> 00:21:59.740
 into thy secret

00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:00.159
 will,

00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:01.379
 who but the Son

00:22:01.379 --> 00:22:02.099
 should take the

00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:02.939
 book and open

00:22:02.939 --> 00:22:04.379
 every seal.

00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:05.960
 He shall fulfill

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:07.359
 thy great decrees,

00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:08.619
 the Son deserves

00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:09.179
 it well.

00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:10.639
 Low in his hand

00:22:10.639 --> 00:22:11.579
 the sovereign keys

00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:12.539
 of heaven and

00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:13.599
 death and hell.

00:22:14.159 --> 00:22:15.119
 Now to the Lamb

00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.199
 that once was slain

00:22:16.199 --> 00:22:17.379
 be endless blessings

00:22:17.379 --> 00:22:18.859
 paid, salvation,

00:22:19.139 --> 00:22:20.419
 glory, joy remain

00:22:20.419 --> 00:22:22.639
 forever on thy head.

00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:24.779
 Thou hast redeemed

00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:26.000
 our souls with blood,

00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:26.980
 has set the

00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:27.680
 prisoner free,

00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:28.799
 has made us kings

00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:29.839
 and priests to God,

00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:31.240
 and we shall reign

00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:31.759
 with thee.

00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:34.240
 The worlds of nature

00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.099
 and of grace are put

00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:37.140
 beneath thy power,

00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:38.359
 then shorten these

00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:39.440
 delaying days,

00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:41.240
 and bring the

00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:42.059
 promised hour.

00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:43.900
 It's not bad for your

00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:44.680
 first go at a hymn,

00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:45.359
 I don't think.

00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:46.799
 I think you might have

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.619
 a real future when it

00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:49.480
 comes to hymn writing.

00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:50.859
 And the most amazing

00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:51.759
 thing is it's not just

00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.559
 a new hymn,

00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:53.919
 but it's a new hymn

00:22:53.919 --> 00:22:55.259
 about new hymns.

00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.179
 So he's really a clever,

00:22:57.419 --> 00:22:58.099
 clever boy.

00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:00.099
 That night it was sung

00:23:00.099 --> 00:23:00.980
 for the first time

00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:02.299
 at Above Bar Church.

00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:03.779
 It was met with great

00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:04.960
 enthusiasm and joy

00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:06.279
 and they proceeded to

00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:07.319
 sing it nine times.

00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:08.980
 So if you have a problem

00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:10.240
 with repeating choruses,

00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.700
 it's really nothing near.

00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:14.379
 What's left the

00:23:14.379 --> 00:23:15.559
 dissenting academy in

00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:17.440
 1694 and returned home?

00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.740
 He simply writes in his diary,

00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:21.500
 dwelt at my father's house

00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:23.500
 two years and a quarter.

00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:26.279
 No one really knows

00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:26.960
 what he was doing

00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:28.400
 for two and a quarter years.

00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:30.579
 And then in 1696,

00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:32.319
 Isaac Watts was asked

00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:34.160
 by Sir John Hartop,

00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.460
 a wealthy, influential,

00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:37.900
 and devoted nonconformist,

00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:39.400
 to become the tutor

00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:40.359
 of his children.

00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:42.440
 He had six daughters

00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:43.319
 and one son.

00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:45.799
 Watts accepted a move

00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:47.319
 into the family's estate,

00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:48.000
 which was back

00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:48.859
 in Stoke Newington,

00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:50.279
 where he'd studied.

00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:51.779
 He performed this role

00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:53.759
 for three years.

00:23:54.539 --> 00:23:55.299
 During this time,

00:23:55.380 --> 00:23:56.500
 he wrote lots and lots

00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:57.900
 of textbooks for children

00:23:57.900 --> 00:23:59.519
 on all sorts of things,

00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:01.220
 on biology and astronomy,

00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:02.940
 on anatomy,

00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:05.779
 for use primarily

00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:06.579
 by the children,

00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.000
 but they were so good

00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.940
 that they were replicated

00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:11.619
 and everyone was using them

00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:13.500
 across the country.

00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:16.380
 Watts also took the responsibility

00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:18.080
 of teaching the Hartop children

00:24:18.080 --> 00:24:19.400
 about the Christian faith

00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:21.660
 and became very skilled

00:24:21.660 --> 00:24:23.700
 at communicating the gospel

00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:24.880
 to John Hart,

00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:25.640
 something that he's going

00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:26.820
 to become famous for

00:24:26.820 --> 00:24:28.240
 in a little while.

00:24:29.360 --> 00:24:30.280
 While he was there,

00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:31.700
 he also wrote this book,

00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:33.360
 which if you can't quite read,

00:24:33.420 --> 00:24:33.840
 it says,

00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:34.640
 Logic,

00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:36.040
 the right use of reason

00:24:36.040 --> 00:24:37.120
 in the inquiry

00:24:37.120 --> 00:24:38.200
 after the truth,

00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:39.960
 with a variety of rules

00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:41.260
 to guard against error

00:24:41.260 --> 00:24:42.940
 in the affairs of religion

00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:44.020
 and human life,

00:24:44.420 --> 00:24:45.820
 as well as in the sciences.

00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:47.839
 It was a book

00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.000
 that kicked back

00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:50.819
 against the Enlightenment,

00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:52.359
 that said,

00:24:52.439 --> 00:24:52.720
 actually,

00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:53.779
 everything we know,

00:24:53.919 --> 00:24:55.279
 we can find out ourselves.

00:24:57.639 --> 00:24:58.139
 And yet,

00:24:58.679 --> 00:24:59.819
 Isaac Watts wanted to say,

00:24:59.919 --> 00:25:00.179
 no,

00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:01.039
 there are some things

00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:02.139
 that need to be revealed

00:25:02.139 --> 00:25:03.399
 to us.

00:25:05.139 --> 00:25:06.879
 It was such a good book

00:25:06.879 --> 00:25:08.839
 that it became

00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:09.960
 the core textbook

00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:10.740
 on logic

00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:11.539
 at Oxford,

00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:12.099
 Cambridge,

00:25:12.179 --> 00:25:12.720
 and Yale,

00:25:13.259 --> 00:25:13.819
 the very institutions

00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:14.519
 institutions

00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:15.519
 that said,

00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:16.299
 we don't want you

00:25:16.299 --> 00:25:18.659
 as a non-conformist.

00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:20.700
 One of the great threads

00:25:20.700 --> 00:25:22.099
 of Isaac Watts' theology

00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:23.299
 is to try and say

00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:24.700
 that the Christian faith

00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:25.960
 is reasonable.

00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:27.339
 He was,

00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:27.939
 if you like,

00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:29.839
 an 18th century apologist.

00:25:30.939 --> 00:25:31.899
 He writes a lot

00:25:31.899 --> 00:25:33.079
 of theological textbooks.

00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:35.059
 He writes about 28 in all.

00:25:35.679 --> 00:25:36.259
 Some of them

00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:37.299
 are absolutely brilliant,

00:25:37.819 --> 00:25:38.960
 and some of them

00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:39.599
 are awful.

00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:41.639
 especially his stuff

00:25:41.639 --> 00:25:42.379
 on the Trinity,

00:25:42.899 --> 00:25:44.259
 where he tries to make

00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:45.339
 the Trinity

00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:46.559
 sound reasonable,

00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.299
 which is really impossible.

00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:50.459
 And in his attempt

00:25:50.459 --> 00:25:52.259
 to make it sound reasonable

00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:53.659
 using all sorts of systems

00:25:53.659 --> 00:25:54.459
 and illustrations,

00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:55.980
 he actually makes it

00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:57.099
 far more complicated

00:25:57.099 --> 00:25:59.579
 and much further advanced

00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:01.459
 than we could ever imagine

00:26:01.459 --> 00:26:02.339
 to the point of being

00:26:02.339 --> 00:26:03.319
 utterly irrational

00:26:03.319 --> 00:26:04.679
 and unbelievable.

00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:06.680
 In 1698,

00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.700
 on his 24th birthday,

00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:11.539
 he writes in his diary,

00:26:12.060 --> 00:26:12.680
 preached my first,

00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:13.539
 oh,

00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:14.640
 let the game away

00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:15.100
 a little early.

00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:17.660
 He preached his first sermon

00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:18.940
 at Mark Lane Church

00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:19.500
 in London.

00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:20.660
 Mark Lane Church

00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:21.720
 is a very famous

00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:23.080
 non-conformist church.

00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:25.539
 One of the two pastors ago,

00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:27.259
 the pastor was John Owen,

00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:30.779
 who's a very big theologian,

00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:32.600
 particularly of non-conformism

00:26:32.600 --> 00:26:34.500
 and the state of the church.

00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:35.720
 The current pastor

00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:37.500
 was a guy called Dr. Chauncey.

00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:38.900
 This was the church

00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:40.640
 that the Hartop family attended.

00:26:42.140 --> 00:26:43.680
 And in his sermon,

00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:45.480
 Isaac preached

00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.360
 a very straightforward message,

00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:49.240
 full of exhortation

00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:50.120
 and illustration.

00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:52.019
 And it was met

00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:53.259
 with great warmth

00:26:53.259 --> 00:26:54.779
 by the congregation.

00:26:56.140 --> 00:26:57.160
 In 1699,

00:26:57.360 --> 00:26:58.299
 he writes in his diary,

00:26:58.500 --> 00:26:59.820
 preached first sermon

00:26:59.820 --> 00:27:02.340
 as Dr. Chauncey's assistant

00:27:02.340 --> 00:27:04.600
 at Mark Lane Church.

00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:06.440
 And suffered after

00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:08.019
 with fever and weakness.

00:27:09.019 --> 00:27:10.600
 This will be another thread

00:27:10.600 --> 00:27:11.660
 that runs right through

00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:12.840
 Isaac Watts' life.

00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:14.460
 He is always ill.

00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:16.560
 He's always plagued

00:27:16.560 --> 00:27:19.180
 with fever and illness.

00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:22.100
 Dr. Chauncey,

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.660
 the guy he was the assistant to,

00:27:23.900 --> 00:27:25.740
 was a learned and able pastor,

00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:27.140
 but the Mark Lane Church

00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:28.259
 was not doing well

00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:29.740
 under his leadership.

00:27:29.740 --> 00:27:33.079
 It had shrunk to about 60 members.

00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:36.160
 And from the church records,

00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:37.240
 it seems to have been

00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:38.319
 in large part

00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:40.079
 due to Dr. Chauncey.

00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:42.559
 He's described as one

00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.319
 who was stubborn in controversy,

00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.200
 tedious in preaching,

00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:48.160
 and rigid in matters

00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:49.180
 of church discipline.

00:27:49.980 --> 00:27:51.660
 So it seems that his congregation

00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:53.220
 were voting with their feet.

00:27:53.220 --> 00:27:55.500
 Two years after Watts

00:27:55.500 --> 00:27:56.620
 became assistant,

00:27:57.700 --> 00:28:00.079
 Dr. Chauncey resigned.

00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:05.480
 The congregation decided

00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:06.640
 to look for a replacement

00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.200
 whilst keeping Watts on

00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:09.480
 as the assistant.

00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:12.400
 However, Watts was not well.

00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:15.500
 In June 1701,

00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.140
 just after Dr. Chauncey's resignation,

00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:19.860
 his notebook says,

00:28:20.580 --> 00:28:21.340
 went to Bath

00:28:21.340 --> 00:28:23.380
 by advice of physicians.

00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:25.360
 Bath that place

00:28:25.360 --> 00:28:27.120
 with good water by the sea

00:28:27.120 --> 00:28:28.880
 that you went to get well

00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:30.320
 if you were wealthy.

00:28:31.540 --> 00:28:32.620
 A few months later,

00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:33.900
 the church was still vacant

00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:35.980
 and the church record says,

00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:37.900
 assistant pastor Watts

00:28:37.900 --> 00:28:40.600
 under continued indispositions

00:28:40.600 --> 00:28:41.820
 of body and weakness

00:28:41.820 --> 00:28:42.640
 in the country,

00:28:43.120 --> 00:28:43.880
 he has given us

00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:44.720
 little encouragement

00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.240
 to expect his return

00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:47.600
 amongst us.

00:28:48.540 --> 00:28:49.360
 After that,

00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:50.940
 the church held a day

00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:52.040
 of prayer and fasting

00:28:52.040 --> 00:28:54.180
 specifically for the restoration

00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:55.759
 of Mr. Watts' health

00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.980
 and for the provision

00:28:56.980 --> 00:28:58.680
 of a pastor for this church.

00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:00.440
 The two ended up

00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:01.860
 to be intrinsically linked.

00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:03.580
 After five months away,

00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:04.880
 Watts returned to London

00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:06.560
 and the church called him

00:29:06.560 --> 00:29:07.780
 to be the senior pastor

00:29:07.780 --> 00:29:09.500
 of Mark Lane Church.

00:29:10.360 --> 00:29:11.259
 Watts hesitated

00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:12.460
 in accepting the call,

00:29:13.060 --> 00:29:14.160
 claiming that his illness

00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:15.000
 would prevent him

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:15.920
 from preaching twice

00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:16.580
 on a Sunday.

00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:19.460
 The congregation persisted

00:29:19.460 --> 00:29:20.899
 and Watts wrote to them

00:29:20.899 --> 00:29:21.500
 this letter.

00:29:22.859 --> 00:29:24.039
 Your perseverance

00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:25.659
 in your choice and love,

00:29:26.059 --> 00:29:27.179
 your constant profession

00:29:27.179 --> 00:29:27.919
 of edification

00:29:27.919 --> 00:29:29.079
 by my ministry,

00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:30.579
 the great probability

00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:32.039
 you show in building up

00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:32.639
 this famous

00:29:32.639 --> 00:29:34.199
 and decayed church of Christ

00:29:34.199 --> 00:29:35.679
 if I accept the call,

00:29:35.899 --> 00:29:37.319
 and your prevailing fears

00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:38.220
 of its dissolution

00:29:38.220 --> 00:29:39.199
 if I refuse,

00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:40.619
 have given me ground

00:29:40.619 --> 00:29:42.399
 to believe that your corporate voice

00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:43.780
 is the voice of Christ.

00:29:44.840 --> 00:29:46.240
 I accept your call,

00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:47.640
 promising the presence

00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:49.040
 of God and his saints

00:29:49.040 --> 00:29:50.460
 my utmost diligence

00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:51.420
 in all the duties

00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:52.180
 of a pastor,

00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:53.519
 so far as God

00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:54.280
 shall enlighten

00:29:54.280 --> 00:29:55.160
 and strengthen me.

00:29:55.600 --> 00:29:56.780
 And I leave this promise

00:29:56.780 --> 00:29:57.860
 in the hands of Christ,

00:29:57.960 --> 00:29:58.780
 our mediator,

00:29:59.420 --> 00:30:01.220
 to see it performed

00:30:01.220 --> 00:30:03.200
 by me unto you

00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:03.960
 through the assistance

00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:05.080
 of his grace

00:30:05.080 --> 00:30:06.140
 and spirit.

00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:08.259
 He was ordained

00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:08.900
 as the pastor

00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:09.960
 of Mark Lane Church

00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:11.060
 on 18th of March,

00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:11.820
 1702,

00:30:12.100 --> 00:30:12.900
 and Thomas Rowe,

00:30:12.980 --> 00:30:13.480
 his tutor

00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:14.700
 from the Dissenting Academy,

00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.700
 preached the sermon.

00:30:16.580 --> 00:30:18.140
 He preached on Jeremiah 3,

00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:19.060
 verse 15,

00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:21.140
 and I will give you pastors

00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:22.840
 according to mine own heart,

00:30:23.280 --> 00:30:24.720
 which shall feed you

00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:25.580
 with knowledge

00:30:25.580 --> 00:30:27.000
 and understanding.

00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:29.759
 Under Watts' ministry,

00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:31.420
 the church started to grow.

00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:33.300
 Within two years,

00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:34.240
 they had to move out

00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.640
 of Mark Lane Church

00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:37.980
 and go to Pinner's Hall.

00:30:38.860 --> 00:30:40.040
 Two years after that,

00:30:40.100 --> 00:30:42.820
 they went to a purpose-built hall,

00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:44.400
 and the membership

00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:46.160
 was up to 428

00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:49.720
 from the 60 that he'd inherited.

00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:51.480
 However,

00:30:51.620 --> 00:30:52.240
 once his health

00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:53.500
 continued to plague him,

00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:55.080
 he regularly writes

00:30:55.080 --> 00:30:56.520
 in his notebook things like,

00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:58.520
 seized with violent jaundice

00:30:58.520 --> 00:30:59.240
 and colic,

00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.140
 had very slow recovery

00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:03.460
 from most recent bout

00:31:03.460 --> 00:31:03.920
 of fever,

00:31:04.100 --> 00:31:05.540
 eight or nine weeks ill,

00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:07.460
 at this time,

00:31:07.580 --> 00:31:08.220
 Watts employed

00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:09.259
 a personal assistant

00:31:09.259 --> 00:31:10.440
 to write for him

00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.120
 and read for him,

00:31:12.360 --> 00:31:12.940
 and he says

00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:13.920
 the reason he did that

00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:14.680
 was because

00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:16.940
 of my great indispositions

00:31:16.940 --> 00:31:17.640
 of body

00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:19.000
 and weakness of head.

00:31:20.300 --> 00:31:20.700
 However,

00:31:20.860 --> 00:31:21.580
 after the church

00:31:21.580 --> 00:31:22.900
 moved to the new premises,

00:31:23.560 --> 00:31:24.140
 Watts enjoyed

00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:25.259
 a sustained period

00:31:25.259 --> 00:31:26.860
 of reasonably good health

00:31:26.860 --> 00:31:28.360
 over the next decade

00:31:28.360 --> 00:31:29.620
 and was able to minister

00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:33.099
 without significant interruptions.

00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:35.539
 Watts also started

00:31:35.539 --> 00:31:36.259
 to become known

00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:36.979
 as an author.

00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:38.919
 He'd not only written

00:31:38.919 --> 00:31:39.779
 all these textbooks

00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:40.959
 and this book of logic,

00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:42.439
 but now he started

00:31:42.439 --> 00:31:43.199
 to author things

00:31:43.199 --> 00:31:44.579
 for general use

00:31:44.579 --> 00:31:46.019
 that were becoming

00:31:46.019 --> 00:31:47.059
 really famous.

00:31:47.639 --> 00:31:48.619
 In 1706,

00:31:48.859 --> 00:31:49.979
 he had a book of poems

00:31:49.979 --> 00:31:50.459
 called

00:31:50.459 --> 00:31:51.739
 Horai Lyrike,

00:31:52.699 --> 00:31:53.339
 published.

00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:55.839
 It spread like wildfire

00:31:55.839 --> 00:31:56.779
 and was a bestseller.

00:31:57.339 --> 00:31:58.359
 In 1707,

00:31:58.519 --> 00:31:59.679
 he received great acclaim

00:31:59.679 --> 00:32:00.959
 for an essay entitled

00:32:00.959 --> 00:32:02.980
 Against Uncharitableness.

00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:04.980
 And later that year,

00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:06.099
 in 1707,

00:32:06.599 --> 00:32:08.119
 he published his first book

00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:08.959
 of hymns called

00:32:08.959 --> 00:32:11.679
 Hymns and Spiritual Songs.

00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.920
 This first book of hymns

00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:16.140
 was revolutionary.

00:32:16.860 --> 00:32:17.840
 By the time he died,

00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:18.960
 41 years later,

00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:20.740
 it was in its 16th edition.

00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:23.320
 It was used by Whitfield

00:32:23.320 --> 00:32:24.680
 in his outdoor preaching

00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:26.160
 and it was translated

00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:27.799
 for an American audience

00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:29.680
 by Benjamin Franklin.

00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:31.759
 Watts writes this

00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:32.460
 in the preface

00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:33.580
 about why he wrote

00:32:33.580 --> 00:32:35.060
 the hymns.

00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:37.940
 These songs are suited

00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:38.860
 for the expression

00:32:38.860 --> 00:32:39.880
 of the general state

00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:40.519
 of the gospel

00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:42.019
 and the most common

00:32:42.019 --> 00:32:43.099
 affairs of Christians.

00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:44.720
 I have aimed

00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:45.680
 at making these songs

00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:47.440
 recitable by large numbers

00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:49.480
 with smoothness of sound

00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:50.559
 and endeavoured

00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:51.319
 to make the sense

00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:52.539
 plain and obvious

00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:53.660
 to all.

00:32:55.379 --> 00:32:56.720
 Watts was not the first person

00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:57.379
 to write hymns

00:32:57.379 --> 00:32:58.200
 for the church.

00:32:58.680 --> 00:32:59.539
 Some had endeavoured

00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:00.599
 to do so before.

00:33:01.639 --> 00:33:02.200
 Watts, therefore,

00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:02.759
 is not called

00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:05.059
 the father of hymnody

00:33:05.059 --> 00:33:06.599
 because he was the first,

00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:08.299
 but because he wrote

00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:10.500
 better and more

00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:12.000
 than all those before him.

00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:14.779
 Before him was a trickle

00:33:14.779 --> 00:33:15.720
 of new hymns.

00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:18.440
 He broke the dam.

00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:20.839
 In this first volume,

00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:21.880
 he writes this hymn,

00:33:21.940 --> 00:33:22.440
 which I think

00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:23.160
 is my favourite.

00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:26.440
 Alas, and did my saviour bleed,

00:33:26.860 --> 00:33:28.380
 and did my sovereign die,

00:33:28.900 --> 00:33:29.720
 would he devote

00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:30.680
 that sacred head

00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:32.240
 for such a worm as I.

00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:33.900
 The body slain,

00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:35.100
 sweet Jesus thine,

00:33:35.400 --> 00:33:37.019
 and bathed in its own blood,

00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:38.420
 while all exposed

00:33:38.420 --> 00:33:39.460
 to wrath divine,

00:33:39.580 --> 00:33:41.080
 the glorious sufferer stood.

00:33:41.840 --> 00:33:42.820
 Was it for crimes

00:33:42.820 --> 00:33:43.700
 that I had done,

00:33:44.040 --> 00:33:45.500
 he groaned upon the tree.

00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:47.080
 Amazing pity,

00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:48.240
 grace unknown,

00:33:48.840 --> 00:33:50.360
 and loved beyond degree.

00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:52.319
 What might the sun

00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:53.379
 in darkness hide

00:33:53.379 --> 00:33:54.819
 and shut his glories in

00:33:54.819 --> 00:33:56.259
 when God the mighty

00:33:56.259 --> 00:33:57.019
 maker died

00:33:57.019 --> 00:33:57.619
 for man,

00:33:57.719 --> 00:33:59.319
 the creature's sin?

00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:01.240
 Thus might I hide

00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:02.259
 my blushing face

00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:04.039
 while his dear cross appears,

00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:05.500
 dissolve my heart

00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:06.299
 in thankfulness

00:34:06.299 --> 00:34:06.919
 and melt

00:34:06.919 --> 00:34:08.819
 my eyes to tears.

00:34:09.420 --> 00:34:10.639
 But drops of grief

00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:11.579
 can ne'er repay

00:34:11.579 --> 00:34:13.159
 the debt of love I owe.

00:34:13.859 --> 00:34:14.339
 Here, Lord,

00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:15.859
 I give myself away.

00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:18.799
 Tis all that I can do.

00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:20.880
 It's also in this volume

00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:21.400
 that we get

00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:22.900
 what's his most famous hymn,

00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:24.460
 When I Survey

00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:25.560
 the Wondrous Cross.

00:34:26.140 --> 00:34:26.720
 Charles Wesley,

00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.480
 who wrote 6,000 hymns,

00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:29.600
 said I would give

00:34:29.600 --> 00:34:30.580
 all 6,000 up

00:34:30.580 --> 00:34:31.320
 if I could have written

00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:32.420
 this one.

00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:34.240
 He also wrote

00:34:34.240 --> 00:34:34.960
 in this volume

00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:35.940
 Joy to the World,

00:34:36.660 --> 00:34:37.240
 but it's about

00:34:37.240 --> 00:34:38.280
 six months too early

00:34:38.280 --> 00:34:40.260
 to crack that one out.

00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:46.600
 It was during this period

00:34:46.600 --> 00:34:47.320
 when he started

00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:48.040
 to become known

00:34:48.040 --> 00:34:48.720
 as an author

00:34:48.720 --> 00:34:49.920
 that Isaac Watts

00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:51.920
 had his only romantic

00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.140
 encounter.

00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:55.140
 A lady called

00:34:55.140 --> 00:34:56.060
 Elizabeth Singer

00:34:56.060 --> 00:34:57.960
 had read Watts' poetry

00:34:57.960 --> 00:34:58.880
 and loved it.

00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:00.560
 She loved it so much

00:35:00.560 --> 00:35:01.140
 that she wanted

00:35:01.140 --> 00:35:02.340
 to meet the author.

00:35:04.020 --> 00:35:04.460
 However,

00:35:04.640 --> 00:35:05.140
 Isaac,

00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:05.800
 though brilliant,

00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:07.320
 was not an attractive man.

00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:09.000
 He's described

00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:09.800
 as short,

00:35:10.220 --> 00:35:10.920
 sallow face,

00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:11.800
 deathly pale,

00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:12.680
 and had a crooked,

00:35:13.140 --> 00:35:14.420
 hooked nose.

00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:15.820
 Miss Singer,

00:35:15.940 --> 00:35:16.680
 by contrast,

00:35:16.780 --> 00:35:17.860
 was very beautiful.

00:35:19.240 --> 00:35:19.539
 They,

00:35:19.680 --> 00:35:20.400
 after lengthy

00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:21.539
 letter correspondence,

00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:22.960
 did eventually meet,

00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:24.320
 and Watts was smitten

00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:25.180
 and proposed

00:35:25.180 --> 00:35:26.680
 to her.

00:35:27.980 --> 00:35:28.720
 And Miss Singer's

00:35:28.720 --> 00:35:29.559
 response has to be

00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:31.059
 the best put down

00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:31.320
 ever.

00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:31.800
 Ever.

00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:33.840
 She said this,

00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:34.640
 Mr Watts,

00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:36.099
 I only wish

00:35:36.099 --> 00:35:36.699
 I could say

00:35:36.699 --> 00:35:37.359
 that I admire

00:35:37.359 --> 00:35:38.199
 the casket

00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:39.299
 as much as

00:35:39.299 --> 00:35:40.299
 I admire the jewel.

00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:41.759
 I only wish

00:35:41.759 --> 00:35:42.819
 that the beauty

00:35:42.819 --> 00:35:43.440
 that flowed

00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:44.219
 from your pen

00:35:44.219 --> 00:35:45.639
 seeped into

00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:46.960
 your person.

00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:49.799
 In other words,

00:35:49.879 --> 00:35:50.739
 I love your poetry,

00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:52.119
 but you're far too ugly

00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:52.859
 for me to spend

00:35:52.859 --> 00:35:53.940
 the rest of my life

00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:54.819
 with.

00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:57.199
 In 1712,

00:35:57.319 --> 00:35:58.219
 the old tiresome

00:35:58.219 --> 00:35:59.199
 sickness returned

00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:00.719
 and what's effectively

00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:02.019
 left pastoral ministry

00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:03.359
 for the next four years.

00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.780
 One biographer

00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:05.960
 speaks of his ailment

00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:07.579
 being a violent fever

00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:08.460
 which introduced

00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:09.559
 a state of nervous

00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:11.400
 agitation of the most

00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:12.500
 painful and distressing

00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:13.039
 kind.

00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:14.400
 His assistant

00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:15.200
 at the church,

00:36:16.240 --> 00:36:17.140
 Samuel Price,

00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:17.800
 was appointed

00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:18.820
 as co-pastor

00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:19.680
 during this time,

00:36:20.180 --> 00:36:20.900
 something Isaac

00:36:20.900 --> 00:36:21.500
 was greatly

00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:22.820
 in favor of

00:36:22.820 --> 00:36:23.780
 because of his

00:36:23.780 --> 00:36:25.400
 incapacitation.

00:36:26.660 --> 00:36:27.500
 The state of illness

00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:29.680
 became known

00:36:29.680 --> 00:36:31.220
 by Sir Thomas Abney.

00:36:31.860 --> 00:36:32.660
 Sir Thomas Abney

00:36:32.659 --> 00:36:33.460
 was the Lord Mayor

00:36:33.460 --> 00:36:33.980
 of London.

00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:35.359
 He was the first

00:36:35.359 --> 00:36:36.699
 director of the Bank

00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:37.239
 of England,

00:36:38.359 --> 00:36:39.719
 one of the first

00:36:39.719 --> 00:36:40.659
 directors of the Bank

00:36:40.659 --> 00:36:41.059
 of England

00:36:41.059 --> 00:36:43.379
 and also for a period

00:36:43.379 --> 00:36:45.779
 became like a royal

00:36:45.779 --> 00:36:46.379
 advisor.

00:36:47.759 --> 00:36:48.599
 Sir Thomas was a

00:36:48.599 --> 00:36:49.000
 genuine,

00:36:49.259 --> 00:36:50.420
 generous benefactor

00:36:50.420 --> 00:36:51.500
 and zealous

00:36:51.500 --> 00:36:52.059
 Christian.

00:36:53.319 --> 00:36:53.799
 The Abneys

00:36:53.799 --> 00:36:54.779
 invited Isaac

00:36:54.779 --> 00:36:55.659
 to stay with them

00:36:55.659 --> 00:36:55.980
 in their

00:36:55.980 --> 00:36:57.259
 Hertfordshire estate,

00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:58.679
 Herefordshire estate,

00:36:59.079 --> 00:36:59.779
 Abney Park,

00:36:59.879 --> 00:37:00.960
 to regain his health.

00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:02.280
 Watts intended

00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:03.260
 to stay for two

00:37:03.260 --> 00:37:04.099
 weeks so as not

00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:04.840
 to be a burden.

00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:06.119
 He ended up

00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:06.980
 staying for 36

00:37:06.980 --> 00:37:07.639
 years.

00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:10.760
 It was at Abney

00:37:10.760 --> 00:37:11.599
 Park where Watts

00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:11.980
 died,

00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:13.559
 aged 75.

00:37:15.019 --> 00:37:16.119
 This time at the

00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:16.920
 Abney estate was

00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:17.619
 very productive

00:37:17.619 --> 00:37:18.380
 in the life of

00:37:18.380 --> 00:37:18.740
 Isaac.

00:37:19.400 --> 00:37:20.599
 In 1715,

00:37:20.820 --> 00:37:21.659
 he wrote a book

00:37:21.659 --> 00:37:22.980
 called Divine

00:37:22.980 --> 00:37:24.320
 Songs Attempted

00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:25.619
 in Easy Language

00:37:25.619 --> 00:37:26.840
 for the Use of

00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:27.179
 Children.

00:37:27.179 --> 00:37:29.139
 Much of his

00:37:29.139 --> 00:37:29.899
 skill in teaching

00:37:29.899 --> 00:37:30.699
 children had been

00:37:30.699 --> 00:37:32.199
 honed during his

00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:32.859
 time with the

00:37:32.859 --> 00:37:33.739
 Hartop children

00:37:33.739 --> 00:37:34.539
 as their tutor

00:37:34.539 --> 00:37:35.819
 and in fact

00:37:35.819 --> 00:37:36.460
 this book was

00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:37.259
 dedicated to

00:37:37.259 --> 00:37:38.440
 Sir John Hartop

00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:39.299
 himself.

00:37:40.519 --> 00:37:41.460
 The words in the

00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:42.379
 preface again are

00:37:42.379 --> 00:37:43.259
 worthy of note.

00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:44.619
 He writes,

00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:46.359
 To all that are

00:37:46.359 --> 00:37:47.159
 concerned with the

00:37:47.159 --> 00:37:47.859
 education of

00:37:47.859 --> 00:37:48.279
 children,

00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:49.699
 you have been

00:37:49.699 --> 00:37:50.599
 given an immense

00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:51.239
 and important

00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:51.899
 charge.

00:37:53.099 --> 00:37:53.859
 The seeds of

00:37:53.859 --> 00:37:55.019
 misery or happiness

00:37:55.019 --> 00:37:55.960
 in this world

00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:56.619
 and that to

00:37:56.619 --> 00:37:57.800
 come are

00:37:57.800 --> 00:37:58.559
 often times

00:37:58.559 --> 00:37:59.300
 sown very

00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:00.780
 early and

00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:01.579
 therefore whatever

00:38:01.579 --> 00:38:02.659
 may conduce to

00:38:02.659 --> 00:38:03.220
 give the minds

00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:04.019
 of children a

00:38:04.019 --> 00:38:05.000
 relish for virtue

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:06.619
 and religion must

00:38:06.619 --> 00:38:07.599
 be your primary

00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:08.240
 concern.

00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:10.340
 He also defends

00:38:10.340 --> 00:38:10.980
 verses and

00:38:10.980 --> 00:38:11.840
 effectual means of

00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:12.639
 teaching children

00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:13.840
 saying that the

00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:14.539
 truths they sing

00:38:14.539 --> 00:38:15.380
 will resonate with

00:38:15.380 --> 00:38:16.240
 them far longer

00:38:16.240 --> 00:38:17.420
 than any other

00:38:17.420 --> 00:38:18.400
 lessons they learn.

00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:19.820
 Just to give you

00:38:19.820 --> 00:38:20.280
 an example,

00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:20.900
 he writes this

00:38:20.900 --> 00:38:21.679
 chorus about the

00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:22.460
 excellence of the

00:38:22.460 --> 00:38:22.800
 Bible.

00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:24.579
 Great God with

00:38:24.579 --> 00:38:25.519
 wonders and with

00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:26.860
 praise on all

00:38:26.860 --> 00:38:27.559
 thy works I

00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:28.759
 lurk, but still

00:38:28.759 --> 00:38:29.340
 thy wisdom,

00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:30.219
 power and grace

00:38:30.219 --> 00:38:31.179
 shine brighter in

00:38:31.179 --> 00:38:31.799
 your book.

00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:34.400
 The stars that in

00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:35.539
 their courses roll

00:38:35.539 --> 00:38:37.219
 have much instruction

00:38:37.219 --> 00:38:38.759
 given, but thy

00:38:38.759 --> 00:38:39.840
 word informs my

00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:41.360
 soul how I may

00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:42.139
 climb to heaven.

00:38:43.059 --> 00:38:44.019
 The fields provide

00:38:44.019 --> 00:38:44.940
 me food and show

00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:45.880
 the goodness of the

00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:47.480
 Lord, but fruits of

00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:48.719
 life and glory grow

00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:50.420
 in thy most holy

00:38:50.420 --> 00:38:50.920
 word.

00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:52.619
 Here are my choices,

00:38:52.840 --> 00:38:53.559
 treasures hid,

00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:54.659
 here my best comfort

00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:56.099
 lies, here my

00:38:56.099 --> 00:38:57.199
 desires are satisfied

00:38:57.199 --> 00:38:58.599
 and hence my joys

00:38:58.599 --> 00:38:59.639
 arise.

00:39:00.139 --> 00:39:00.779
 Lord, make me

00:39:00.779 --> 00:39:01.900
 understand thy law,

00:39:02.539 --> 00:39:03.199
 show what my

00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:04.039
 faults have been,

00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:05.460
 and from thy gospel

00:39:05.460 --> 00:39:06.659
 let me draw pardon

00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:07.799
 for all my sin.

00:39:08.759 --> 00:39:09.679
 Here would I learn

00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:10.820
 how Christ has died

00:39:10.820 --> 00:39:12.119
 to save my soul

00:39:12.119 --> 00:39:13.820
 from hell, not all

00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:14.759
 the books on earth

00:39:14.759 --> 00:39:15.940
 besides such heavenly

00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:16.779
 wonders tell.

00:39:17.420 --> 00:39:18.500
 Then let me love my

00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:20.179
 Bible more and take

00:39:20.179 --> 00:39:22.119
 a fresh delight by day

00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:23.299
 to read these wonders

00:39:23.299 --> 00:39:24.940
 over and meditate

00:39:24.940 --> 00:39:26.380
 by night.

00:39:27.380 --> 00:39:28.420
 He also writes a book

00:39:28.420 --> 00:39:29.880
 called Prayers for

00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.500
 Use and Imitation

00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:32.940
 of Children.

00:39:33.059 --> 00:39:34.019
 No one had paid much

00:39:34.019 --> 00:39:35.000
 attention to children

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:36.559
 and he writes them a

00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:38.159
 song book and a book

00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:38.900
 about prayer.

00:39:39.460 --> 00:39:40.420
 And the third thing he

00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:41.719
 does is he writes

00:39:41.719 --> 00:39:42.739
 them a catechism,

00:39:43.420 --> 00:39:44.519
 a way that they can

00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:45.639
 learn the foundations

00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:46.980
 of the Christian faith.

00:39:46.980 --> 00:39:50.860
 These catechisms were

00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:51.980
 so useful and so

00:39:51.980 --> 00:39:53.139
 successful in teaching

00:39:53.139 --> 00:39:54.139
 children the gospel

00:39:54.139 --> 00:39:56.000
 that Charles Haddon

00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:57.199
 Spurgeon, a century

00:39:57.199 --> 00:39:58.619
 after Watts' death,

00:39:59.059 --> 00:39:59.579
 would make the

00:39:59.579 --> 00:40:00.579
 following comment about

00:40:00.579 --> 00:40:01.380
 their use in his

00:40:01.380 --> 00:40:01.760
 upbringing.

00:40:02.699 --> 00:40:04.099
 Dr. Watts' catechism,

00:40:04.179 --> 00:40:04.780
 which I learned

00:40:04.780 --> 00:40:06.679
 myself, is so simple,

00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:08.539
 so interesting, so

00:40:08.539 --> 00:40:10.159
 suggestive, that a

00:40:10.159 --> 00:40:11.320
 better conversation of

00:40:11.320 --> 00:40:12.199
 scriptural knowledge

00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:13.280
 will never be written.

00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:15.180
 And the marvel is

00:40:15.180 --> 00:40:16.740
 that such a tool of

00:40:16.740 --> 00:40:17.780
 instruction should have

00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:19.200
 been laid aside by so

00:40:19.200 --> 00:40:20.260
 many Sunday school

00:40:20.260 --> 00:40:21.180
 teachers.

00:40:22.360 --> 00:40:23.380
 It was also at

00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:24.760
 Abney Park staying

00:40:24.760 --> 00:40:26.240
 with Lord Abney that

00:40:26.240 --> 00:40:27.160
 Watts produced his

00:40:27.160 --> 00:40:29.040
 greatest work, a

00:40:29.040 --> 00:40:29.960
 re-rendering of

00:40:29.960 --> 00:40:31.440
 psalms, the psalms

00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:32.280
 Christologically.

00:40:33.340 --> 00:40:34.360
 As Watts described

00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:36.160
 them, the previous

00:40:36.160 --> 00:40:37.620
 translation is offensive

00:40:37.620 --> 00:40:39.080
 and gawky.

00:40:40.120 --> 00:40:41.019
 Watts asked himself,

00:40:41.200 --> 00:40:42.460
 why may we not sing

00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:43.599
 of Christ as God?

00:40:44.139 --> 00:40:45.139
 When God makes all

00:40:45.139 --> 00:40:46.159
 things new, why must

00:40:46.159 --> 00:40:48.039
 our praises remain in

00:40:48.039 --> 00:40:48.860
 the old covenant?

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:50.880
 It was from this

00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:51.800
 question that Watts

00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:53.780
 hit upon a new way

00:40:53.780 --> 00:40:54.820
 of interpreting the

00:40:54.820 --> 00:40:56.639
 psalms, the so-called

00:40:56.639 --> 00:40:58.440
 redemptive historical

00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:00.940
 hermeneutic employed by

00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:02.340
 all the best preachers.

00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:04.240
 This is described by

00:41:04.240 --> 00:41:04.639
 J.I.

00:41:04.720 --> 00:41:06.460
 Packer as, Christ is

00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:07.559
 the subject matter of

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:08.800
 scripture, always

00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:10.159
 written to bear witness

00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:10.740
 to him.

00:41:10.739 --> 00:41:12.119
 He is the sum of the

00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:14.559
 whole Bible, prophesied,

00:41:14.919 --> 00:41:16.939
 typified, prefigured,

00:41:17.359 --> 00:41:18.759
 exhibited, demonstrated.

00:41:19.299 --> 00:41:20.479
 He is to be found in

00:41:20.479 --> 00:41:21.939
 every leaf, almost in

00:41:21.939 --> 00:41:23.319
 every line, the

00:41:23.319 --> 00:41:25.000
 scriptures being, but

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:25.779
 as it were, the

00:41:25.779 --> 00:41:28.299
 swaddling bands of the

00:41:28.299 --> 00:41:29.599
 child Jesus.

00:41:30.959 --> 00:41:32.319
 So Watts said about

00:41:32.319 --> 00:41:33.859
 rewriting the psalms,

00:41:34.339 --> 00:41:35.699
 but making them about

00:41:35.699 --> 00:41:36.199
 Jesus.

00:41:37.059 --> 00:41:38.879
 He writes this in the

00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:39.519
 preface.

00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:41.340
 Where the psalmist speaks

00:41:41.340 --> 00:41:42.519
 of the pardon of sin

00:41:42.519 --> 00:41:43.539
 through the mercies of

00:41:43.539 --> 00:41:45.320
 God, I have added the

00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:46.500
 merits of a saviour.

00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:48.000
 Where he talks of

00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.360
 sacrificing goats or

00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:50.820
 bullocks, I rather

00:41:50.820 --> 00:41:51.920
 choose to mention the

00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:53.780
 sacrifice of Christ, the

00:41:53.780 --> 00:41:54.519
 Lamb of God.

00:41:54.980 --> 00:41:55.780
 Where he promises

00:41:55.780 --> 00:41:57.079
 abundance of wealth,

00:41:57.320 --> 00:41:58.460
 honour and long life,

00:41:58.780 --> 00:41:59.880
 I have changed some of

00:41:59.880 --> 00:42:01.180
 these typical blessings

00:42:01.180 --> 00:42:03.039
 for grace, glory and

00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:04.640
 life eternal, which are

00:42:04.640 --> 00:42:05.599
 brought to light by the

00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:06.840
 gospel and promised in the

00:42:06.840 --> 00:42:07.440
 New Testament.

00:42:08.180 --> 00:42:08.980
 And I am fully

00:42:08.980 --> 00:42:10.680
 satisfied that more

00:42:10.680 --> 00:42:11.760
 honour is done to our

00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:12.780
 blessed saviour by

00:42:12.780 --> 00:42:14.320
 speaking his name, his

00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:15.680
 graces, his actions

00:42:15.680 --> 00:42:17.579
 explicitly in our own

00:42:17.579 --> 00:42:19.100
 language, according to

00:42:19.100 --> 00:42:20.660
 the brighter discoveries he

00:42:20.660 --> 00:42:22.300
 hath now made, than by

00:42:22.300 --> 00:42:23.600
 going back again to the

00:42:23.600 --> 00:42:24.820
 Old Testament forms of

00:42:24.820 --> 00:42:26.360
 worship and the language

00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:28.140
 of types and figures.

00:42:29.400 --> 00:42:30.840
 So for example, he takes

00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:31.820
 Psalm 72.

00:42:32.660 --> 00:42:33.660
 The English version

00:42:33.659 --> 00:42:35.339
 begins, give the king

00:42:35.339 --> 00:42:36.759
 your justice, O God.

00:42:37.219 --> 00:42:38.859
 And clearly in context, it

00:42:38.859 --> 00:42:40.119
 is a psalm about King

00:42:40.119 --> 00:42:41.899
 Solomon and his reign

00:42:41.899 --> 00:42:43.399
 extending throughout all

00:42:43.399 --> 00:42:44.059
 the world.

00:42:44.659 --> 00:42:46.059
 But through the redemptive

00:42:46.059 --> 00:42:47.219
 historical theology

00:42:47.219 --> 00:42:49.219
 employed by Watts and his

00:42:49.219 --> 00:42:51.659
 poetic skill, it becomes a

00:42:51.659 --> 00:42:53.960
 Jesus-centred declaration of

00:42:53.960 --> 00:42:55.379
 the gospel foreshadowed in

00:42:55.379 --> 00:42:57.219
 the psalm and fulfilled in

00:42:57.219 --> 00:42:57.659
 Christ.

00:42:58.139 --> 00:43:01.059
 So we get, Jesus shall reign

00:43:01.059 --> 00:43:03.420
 where'er the sun, doth his

00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:06.019
 successive journey run, his

00:43:06.019 --> 00:43:07.480
 kingdom stretch from shore

00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:09.739
 to shore, till moon shall

00:43:09.739 --> 00:43:12.039
 wax and wane no more.

00:43:13.559 --> 00:43:14.420
 There was a lot of

00:43:14.420 --> 00:43:17.239
 opposition from some camps to

00:43:17.239 --> 00:43:18.639
 this re-rendering of the

00:43:18.639 --> 00:43:19.159
 psalms.

00:43:19.639 --> 00:43:20.840
 They accused him of tampering

00:43:20.840 --> 00:43:21.559
 with scripture.

00:43:22.659 --> 00:43:23.779
 However, there were a vast

00:43:23.779 --> 00:43:25.320
 majority who were incredibly

00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:27.659
 appreciative of what Isaac

00:43:27.659 --> 00:43:28.440
 Watts had done.

00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:30.320
 Isaac's younger brother

00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:33.059
 called Enoch, a notable

00:43:33.059 --> 00:43:34.559
 poet himself, wrote this to

00:43:34.559 --> 00:43:35.559
 celebrate his brother's

00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:35.960
 work.

00:43:36.860 --> 00:43:38.360
 Yours is the old truth,

00:43:38.700 --> 00:43:39.820
 stripped of its rags,

00:43:40.300 --> 00:43:41.380
 ragged ornaments and

00:43:41.380 --> 00:43:42.159
 upper else.

00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:45.380
 If we may say so, as

00:43:45.380 --> 00:43:47.179
 younger by ages in a new

00:43:47.179 --> 00:43:48.460
 fashionable dress, these

00:43:48.460 --> 00:43:49.840
 psalms have been clothed.

00:43:50.940 --> 00:43:52.420
 There is in the old psalms

00:43:52.420 --> 00:43:54.400
 we used to sing a mighty

00:43:54.400 --> 00:43:56.280
 deficiency of that life and

00:43:56.280 --> 00:43:58.260
 soul which are necessary to

00:43:58.260 --> 00:43:59.860
 raise our fancies and kindle

00:43:59.860 --> 00:44:00.500
 our passions.

00:44:01.260 --> 00:44:02.560
 Not so with yours.

00:44:03.200 --> 00:44:04.540
 They are incendiary to the

00:44:04.540 --> 00:44:06.280
 soul, magnifying of Christ

00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:08.680
 and glorious to recite.

00:44:09.400 --> 00:44:10.760
 I have been persuaded for

00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:12.460
 some time now that with

00:44:12.460 --> 00:44:14.260
 King David to speak English,

00:44:14.640 --> 00:44:15.920
 he would choose to make use

00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:16.660
 of your style.

00:44:18.660 --> 00:44:19.660
 We'll sing another great

00:44:19.660 --> 00:44:21.720
 Watts psalm in a few moments

00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:23.279
 to close our time.

00:44:24.099 --> 00:44:25.699
 That one, O God, our help

00:44:25.699 --> 00:44:26.859
 in ages past.

00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.459
 Watts continued writing and

00:44:29.459 --> 00:44:30.739
 reforming for the next 20

00:44:30.739 --> 00:44:31.279
 years.

00:44:31.819 --> 00:44:33.099
 He became not just a renowned

00:44:33.099 --> 00:44:34.199
 preacher of the gospel,

00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:36.299
 but also became very active

00:44:36.299 --> 00:44:38.299
 in social reform.

00:44:39.399 --> 00:44:40.980
 The outworking of the gospel.

00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:42.939
 He wrote about uncharitableness.

00:44:43.579 --> 00:44:44.739
 He challenged giving.

00:44:45.419 --> 00:44:47.159
 He spoke on social ills like

00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:48.859
 drunkenness, particularly gin.

00:44:48.860 --> 00:44:51.079
 He was a keen advocate for

00:44:51.079 --> 00:44:52.920
 free and accessible education

00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:54.220
 for the poor.

00:44:55.200 --> 00:44:56.680
 He was also someone who was

00:44:56.680 --> 00:44:58.280
 very caring and loving to his

00:44:58.280 --> 00:44:58.960
 congregation.

00:44:59.800 --> 00:45:01.820
 You've got countless letters

00:45:01.820 --> 00:45:04.700
 tenderly penned that express

00:45:04.700 --> 00:45:06.320
 not just a sincere love for

00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:08.079
 them, but a desire that they

00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:09.180
 would go through the various

00:45:09.180 --> 00:45:11.200
 struggles of their life in a

00:45:11.200 --> 00:45:12.760
 Christ-like, God-glorifying

00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:13.160
 way.

00:45:14.519 --> 00:45:17.079
 In 1746, just two years before

00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:19.599
 he died, Watts wrote a hymn to

00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:21.480
 introduce a new book called

00:45:21.480 --> 00:45:22.440
 The World to Come.

00:45:23.099 --> 00:45:24.500
 It's a book about death and

00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:25.819
 it's really worth a read.

00:45:26.219 --> 00:45:28.860
 It's very, very brilliant in

00:45:28.860 --> 00:45:29.819
 dealing with the topic.

00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:31.960
 This hymn that he writes to

00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:33.219
 introduce and is in the front

00:45:33.219 --> 00:45:34.579
 cover says this.

00:45:34.639 --> 00:45:36.239
 There is a land of pure delight

00:45:36.239 --> 00:45:38.400
 where saints immortal reign.

00:45:39.299 --> 00:45:40.779
 Infinite day excludes the

00:45:40.779 --> 00:45:42.840
 night and pleasures banish pain.

00:45:43.639 --> 00:45:45.519
 Their everlasting spring abides

00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:47.179
 and never withering flowers.

00:45:47.759 --> 00:45:49.480
 Death like a narrow sea divides

00:45:49.480 --> 00:45:51.219
 this heavenly land from us.

00:45:51.860 --> 00:45:53.119
 Sweet fields beyond the

00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:55.219
 swelling flood stand dressed in

00:45:55.219 --> 00:45:55.920
 living green.

00:45:56.559 --> 00:45:58.980
 So too the Jews old Canaan stood

00:45:58.980 --> 00:46:00.719
 while Jordan rolled between.

00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:03.579
 But timorous mortals start and

00:46:03.579 --> 00:46:05.259
 shrink to cross the narrow sea

00:46:05.259 --> 00:46:07.920
 and linger shivering on the brink

00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:09.980
 and fear to launch away.

00:46:09.980 --> 00:46:12.840
 Oh could we make our doubts

00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:15.800
 remove those gloomy doubts

00:46:15.800 --> 00:46:18.260
 that rise and see the Canaan

00:46:18.260 --> 00:46:20.760
 that we love with unbeclouded

00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:21.340
 eyes.

00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:23.179
 It's amazing isn't it just how

00:46:23.179 --> 00:46:25.679
 real he is when he says

00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:27.199
 timorous mortals start and

00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:28.699
 shrink to cross the narrow sea.

00:46:29.320 --> 00:46:31.679
 But even the most fervent

00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:35.240
 Christian can still be scared of

00:46:35.240 --> 00:46:35.719
 death.

00:46:35.719 --> 00:46:39.379
 It's a very pastoral book

00:46:39.379 --> 00:46:40.619
 the world to come.

00:46:41.099 --> 00:46:41.879
 There's a lot of great

00:46:41.879 --> 00:46:43.619
 exhortation in it about how to

00:46:43.619 --> 00:46:45.219
 use life well.

00:46:47.279 --> 00:46:49.239
 Watts at the end of his life met

00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:51.299
 some slightly later contemporaries.

00:46:51.879 --> 00:46:54.319
 He met Whitfield who asked if he

00:46:54.319 --> 00:46:55.959
 could use his hymns in the open air

00:46:55.959 --> 00:46:58.039
 campaigns.

00:46:58.899 --> 00:47:00.500
 The Wesley brothers spoke really

00:47:00.500 --> 00:47:01.459
 nicely of him.

00:47:02.379 --> 00:47:03.619
 He lives to see the great

00:47:03.619 --> 00:47:04.920
 awakening through the preaching

00:47:04.920 --> 00:47:05.920
 of Jonathan Edwards.

00:47:06.839 --> 00:47:07.960
 Which when you consider

00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:10.679
 the church world that he

00:47:10.679 --> 00:47:11.619
 grew up in

00:47:11.619 --> 00:47:14.259
 to then see this incredible

00:47:14.259 --> 00:47:17.079
 revival break out towards the

00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:18.400
 end of his life must have been a

00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:19.019
 real thrill.

00:47:21.519 --> 00:47:23.559
 The church had seen a seismic and

00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:25.079
 glorious shift in the course of his

00:47:25.079 --> 00:47:27.480
 life from a dry emotionless

00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:30.619
 formal gathering in the 1670s

00:47:30.619 --> 00:47:33.159
 to a revival of enthusiasm and

00:47:33.159 --> 00:47:36.279
 life by his death in 1748.

00:47:37.699 --> 00:47:39.599
 All of these gatherings would have

00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:41.380
 been belted out many of the hymns

00:47:41.380 --> 00:47:44.099
 that he penned as we are today.

00:47:44.940 --> 00:47:48.119
 On the 25th of November 1748 at the

00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:51.179
 Abney Estate Watts commented to his

00:47:51.179 --> 00:47:53.179
 personal secretary Joseph Parker

00:47:53.179 --> 00:47:57.019
 It is a great mercy to me that I have

00:47:57.019 --> 00:48:00.739
 no matter of fear or dread in death.

00:48:01.739 --> 00:48:04.799
 I could if God please lay back my

00:48:04.799 --> 00:48:06.599
 head and die without terror this

00:48:06.599 --> 00:48:07.719
 afternoon or night.

00:48:09.059 --> 00:48:11.159
 My chief supports are from my view of

00:48:11.159 --> 00:48:13.779
 eternal things and the interest through

00:48:13.779 --> 00:48:15.139
 Christ I have in them.

00:48:15.799 --> 00:48:17.980
 I trust all my sins are pardoned through

00:48:17.980 --> 00:48:18.960
 the blood of Christ.

00:48:19.480 --> 00:48:20.879
 I have no fear of dying.

00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:23.460
 It would be the greatest comfort to

00:48:23.460 --> 00:48:26.880
 lie down and sleep and wake no more.

00:48:28.119 --> 00:48:29.940
 Watts in one of his meditations on

00:48:29.940 --> 00:48:32.380
 death wrote in heaven new and

00:48:32.380 --> 00:48:34.820
 unknown powers and glories brighter

00:48:34.820 --> 00:48:37.940
 flames of imagination richer scenes of

00:48:37.940 --> 00:48:40.960
 wit and fancy and diviner talents.

00:48:41.940 --> 00:48:43.500
 He talks about the new creation having

00:48:43.500 --> 00:48:45.079
 even diviner talents.

00:48:45.619 --> 00:48:47.320
 So if these what's him sound good down

00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:49.500
 here just imagine what a glorious heaven

00:48:49.500 --> 00:48:51.659
 what's him would sound like.

00:48:52.739 --> 00:48:54.760
 The last thing he wrote before his death

00:48:54.760 --> 00:48:55.980
 was these four lines.

00:48:56.739 --> 00:48:59.400
 There we shall see his face and never

00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:00.139
 never sin.

00:49:00.880 --> 00:49:02.900
 They're from the fountain of his grace.

00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:05.820
 Drink endless pleasures in.

00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.199
 And so that is Isaac Watts.

00:49:10.659 --> 00:49:13.179
 But what can we learn about him today?

00:49:13.179 --> 00:49:16.539
 I think just a few things.

00:49:17.399 --> 00:49:19.139
 Light and then heat.

00:49:19.359 --> 00:49:20.659
 Light and then heat.

00:49:21.039 --> 00:49:23.399
 In all his hymn writing Isaac Watts was

00:49:23.399 --> 00:49:26.839
 very careful in stating the truth and

00:49:26.839 --> 00:49:28.279
 then responding to it.

00:49:28.719 --> 00:49:31.779
 It was always theology becoming doxology.

00:49:32.399 --> 00:49:33.739
 It wasn't emotionalism.

00:49:33.819 --> 00:49:35.319
 He wasn't hyping up the crowd.

00:49:35.719 --> 00:49:38.339
 But he said these truths are true.

00:49:38.340 --> 00:49:41.600
 And then he told people how to feel about

00:49:42.320 --> 00:49:42.660
 them.

00:49:44.800 --> 00:49:47.240
 Secondly, in an age of enlightened thinking

00:49:47.240 --> 00:49:50.600
 and rationalism, Isaac Watts is

00:49:51.240 --> 00:49:53.860
 reasonable but remarkable about emotion.

00:49:54.579 --> 00:49:56.220
 When everyone was going to empirical

00:49:56.220 --> 00:49:58.760
 evidence, when everyone was saying that

00:49:58.760 --> 00:50:00.539
 we can actually find out everything,

00:50:01.160 --> 00:50:02.860
 it became very sterile.

00:50:03.820 --> 00:50:05.340
 And Isaac Watts said, no, you can feel

00:50:05.340 --> 00:50:06.980
 feel about these things.

00:50:07.300 --> 00:50:08.360
 These are things that you can be

00:50:08.360 --> 00:50:09.400
 overjoyed about.

00:50:09.800 --> 00:50:11.480
 There are situations in life where you

00:50:11.480 --> 00:50:12.320
 can cry.

00:50:13.420 --> 00:50:15.400
 And isn't that interesting for us in the

00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:16.380
 21st century?

00:50:17.340 --> 00:50:19.519
 That we don't need to just have a dry,

00:50:19.960 --> 00:50:22.120
 cold orthodoxy on a level.

00:50:23.079 --> 00:50:25.940
 But actually it's good to be overjoyed

00:50:25.940 --> 00:50:26.539
 at the gospel.

00:50:27.780 --> 00:50:30.420
 We can be fearful of what's to come.

00:50:31.180 --> 00:50:34.620
 There is the ability to feel built into

00:50:34.619 --> 00:50:36.279
 the Christian experience.

00:50:37.099 --> 00:50:38.619
 I think thirdly, gospel faithfulness

00:50:39.339 --> 00:50:40.000
 in weakness.

00:50:41.099 --> 00:50:42.359
 That Isaac Watts, as we've seen,

00:50:42.400 --> 00:50:44.119
 was ill all the time.

00:50:45.199 --> 00:50:47.380
 He was never well and sometimes he was

00:50:47.380 --> 00:50:48.440
 close to death.

00:50:49.079 --> 00:50:52.480
 And yet Watts was dependent on the

00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:54.839
 Lord amidst his weakness.

00:50:54.980 --> 00:50:56.759
 He knew he couldn't do it by himself.

00:50:57.259 --> 00:50:59.059
 His prayer journal is remarkable.

00:51:00.460 --> 00:51:02.339
 Just endlessly says, I can't do it,

00:51:02.340 --> 00:51:03.539
 so God you'll have to.

00:51:04.340 --> 00:51:05.860
 He didn't use it as an excuse for

00:51:05.860 --> 00:51:06.200
 anything.

00:51:06.340 --> 00:51:08.620
 If he literally could stand, he would

00:51:08.620 --> 00:51:10.620
 preach and then suffer the consequences

00:51:10.620 --> 00:51:11.280
 afterwards.

00:51:12.559 --> 00:51:14.380
 Fourthly, a massive investment in

00:51:14.380 --> 00:51:14.740
 children.

00:51:15.539 --> 00:51:17.579
 Despite often being ridiculed for the

00:51:17.579 --> 00:51:20.100
 time he took writing and seek to

00:51:20.100 --> 00:51:21.960
 educate children, he persisted.

00:51:22.400 --> 00:51:24.820
 He knew that God loved children and

00:51:24.820 --> 00:51:26.460
 bringing them up and teaching them the

00:51:26.460 --> 00:51:28.740
 things of God was by far the best

00:51:28.739 --> 00:51:30.399
 investment and use of his time.

00:51:32.099 --> 00:51:34.379
 We see that that was built on the

00:51:34.379 --> 00:51:35.719
 upbringing that he had.

00:51:36.739 --> 00:51:38.739
 Fifthly, Christ-centered praise.

00:51:39.259 --> 00:51:42.119
 In an age of moralism in the church and

00:51:42.119 --> 00:51:45.759
 academia and skepticism, Watts absolutely

00:51:45.759 --> 00:51:47.679
 kept the main thing the main thing.

00:51:48.379 --> 00:51:52.119
 And all of his hymns focus and center and

00:51:52.119 --> 00:51:55.099
 find their crescendo in the gospel in the

00:51:55.099 --> 00:51:56.339
 person of the Lord Jesus.

00:51:56.340 --> 00:51:59.740
 Wesley said of him, he opened his Bible

00:51:59.740 --> 00:52:02.539
 and made a beeline for Jesus as quickly

00:52:02.539 --> 00:52:03.760
 as possible.

00:52:04.940 --> 00:52:06.940
 Sixthly, he used his gifts and talents for

00:52:06.940 --> 00:52:07.940
 the highest purposes.

00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:10.620
 As you can see, he was an absolute genius.

00:52:11.360 --> 00:52:13.019
 The age of seven to pen that is pretty

00:52:13.019 --> 00:52:13.380
 good.

00:52:14.039 --> 00:52:15.340
 He could have been an actor.

00:52:15.720 --> 00:52:16.740
 He could have written books.

00:52:16.820 --> 00:52:18.059
 He could have been a playwright.

00:52:18.620 --> 00:52:20.180
 And yet he knew that the one thing that

00:52:20.180 --> 00:52:22.760
 would last forever is what he did for the

00:52:22.760 --> 00:52:23.960
 Lord Jesus.

00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:26.599
 And seventhly, something that we didn't

00:52:26.599 --> 00:52:29.199
 really cover is that he hated division in

00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:29.840
 the church.

00:52:30.340 --> 00:52:31.720
 He always sought harmony.

00:52:32.500 --> 00:52:34.360
 And he was in a time of great tumult.

00:52:34.699 --> 00:52:36.519
 And he very much stood on the truth.

00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:39.539
 He engaged with philosophers and academics.

00:52:39.840 --> 00:52:43.099
 He has a brilliant discourse with John

00:52:43.099 --> 00:52:45.579
 Locke, a leading philosopher at the time.

00:52:45.579 --> 00:52:48.239
 And this is what John Locke said.

00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:51.699
 After our conversation, I have to say,

00:52:52.019 --> 00:52:54.139
 I disagree with Mr. Watts profoundly.

00:52:55.139 --> 00:52:59.000
 But I find myself loving him more dearly as a

00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:00.219
 result of our conversation.

00:53:00.219 --> 00:53:03.420
 That he always acted graciously with integrity

00:53:03.420 --> 00:53:04.400
 towards people.

00:53:05.059 --> 00:53:09.179
 And this just endeared him to his fellows and

00:53:09.179 --> 00:53:10.360
 colleagues even more.

00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:15.200
 At his funeral service, David Jennings

00:53:15.200 --> 00:53:17.320
 prophetically said these words.

00:53:18.500 --> 00:53:21.280
 While Isaac Watts is now celebrating the new

00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:24.680
 songs of heaven, how many thousands of pious

00:53:24.680 --> 00:53:27.720
 worshippers are this day lifting up their hearts

00:53:27.720 --> 00:53:31.300
 to God in the sacred songs he taught them on earth?

00:53:31.900 --> 00:53:35.620
 Though his voice is not any longer heard by us,

00:53:35.619 --> 00:53:40.119
 yet his words, like those of the day and night,

00:53:40.599 --> 00:53:43.159
 are gone to the ends of the world.