Isaac Watts

EARLY LIFE 

Isaac Watts was born in Southampton, England on July 17, 1674, the eldest of nine children.

He was brought up in a home of committed Christians; his father, also Isaac Watts, was a respected nonconformist who had twice been imprisoned for his religious beliefs. His mother was of Huguenot origin.

Watts had a classical education at King Edward VI School, Southampton, learning Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

Watts displayed a propensity for poetry from an early age. Once doing family prayers the boy laughed out loud. When his parents questioned him about it, he said he had just seen a mouse run up the bell rope hanging by the fireplace, and he had made up a rhyme on the spot.

A little mouse for want of stairs
Ran up a rope to say its prayers.

Issac received corporal punishment from his father for this, to which he responded:

O father, father, pity take
And I will no more verses make

Watts could not attend Cambridge or Oxford University because of his nonconformist beliefs (these universities were restricted to Anglicans in his day). Instead, he attended the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690.

After completing his education Watts was appointed pastor of a large independent chapel, Mark Lane Congregational Chapel, in London. He helped train preachers and took work as a private tutor.

HYMN WRITING 

Isaac Watts is often called the father of English hymnody.

Issac Watts

In 1692 the 18-year-old Isaac Watts complained to his father that the hymns sung at church were tuneless. His father suggested he provide something better. The result was "Behold the Glories of the Lamb," which is considered the birth of the English hymn.

When not pastoring his congregation at Mark Lane, Watts wrote poetry based on scripture. In 1707 he published Hymns and Spiritual Songs, the first real hymnbook in the English language. Before this book, only Psalms or adaptations of existing poems were sung in churches but Watts saw no reason why Christians shouldn't sing God's praises in the form of good poetry specifically written for that purpose.

"Joy to the World" was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. The scripture-based words are from Psalm 98, in particular verse 4: "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music." It was not written as a Christmas song—the original theme was the second coming of Jesus our Lord and King.

Watts is also the founder of children's hymnody. His Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children, first published in 1715, is a collection of didactic, moralistic poetry and is considered to be the first hymnbook for children.

Divine Songs for Children included Watts' well-known poem "Against Idleness and Mischief". This was parodied by Lewis Carroll in "How Doth the Little Crocodile", included in his Alice's Adventures in Wonderland novel.

Many church leaders were opposed to his efforts and some called his hymns "Watt's Whims." The common people, however, delighted in them.

Watts was the first to write hymn words based on personal feelings and testimony. When he used the word "I" in the opening line of his most famous hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," he was actually revolutionizing the way people express their faith in music.

Watts is credited with some 750 hymns, as well as many books. His joyful hymns expressed wonder, praise and adoration covering the whole range of Christian experience. They prepared the way for the great revival under the Wesleys and Whitfield.

BELIEFS 

Watts had a rich Christian background, and most of his hymns are paraphrases of the Bible.

He held religious opinions that were more nondenominational or ecumenical than was common for a nonconformist Congregationalist. Watts had a greater interest in promoting education and scholarship than preaching for any particular sect.

Watts spoke candidly about the irreligon of his time, regretting "the decay of vital religion in the hearts and minds of men."

PERSONAL LIFE 

Only 5 feet tall, Watts had a large head - made larger by a huge wig - and small piercing eyes. But he was known for his generosity, humanity and godliness.

Like all young men Watts pined for feminine company, but the ladies tended to judge him on his looks rather than his character. On one occasion, Watts plucked up the courage to propose to a beloved. In refusing his matrimonial proposal she responded, "I like the jewel but not the setting."

Books were Watt's chosen companions in his many times of illness, and he maintained an extensive correspondence.

Watts lived for a time with the nonconformist Hartopp family at Fleetwood House on Church Street in Stoke Newington. Through them, he became acquainted with their immediate neighbors the merchant and banker Sir Thomas Abney and his wife Lady Mary. During one bout with ill health when he was 38, Watts was invited to spend a week on the estate of Sir Thomas Abney, who had become a friend and admirer. As his health did not improve, Abney invited him to stay longer. Watts so endeared himself to the family that he remained as a guest at their home for the remaining 36 years of his life.

Statue of Isaac Watts, Abney Park Cemetery By Stephencdickson

HEALTH, LATER YEARS AND DEATH 

During the last three decades of Watts' life, he was more or less an invalid. But living in the comfortable, happy surroundings of the Abney household, he continued to use his brilliant mind to write hymns and books.

His literary work was prodigious in spite of weakness and much illness. Watts even wrote a textbook on logic which was particularly popular; its full title was, Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. The work was first published in 1724, and it was printed in twenty editions.

Watts died on November 25, 1748 aged 74; he was buried in Bunhill Fields.

The Church of England, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada celebrate Issac Watts' feast day on November 25 each year.

Hanging in Westminster Abbey is a tablet picturing Watts writing at a table while angels whisper songs in his ear.

Source Great Christian Hymn Writers by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson