Give To Our God Immortal Praise

Known as the "Father of English hymnody," Isaac Watts wrote approximately 600 hymns.Wanting to bring New Testament light to the psalms, Watts wrote paraphrases of nearly all of the psalms, publishing them in a hymnal titled Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.

Watts felt strongly that the Christian church should sing of Christ. He explained his approach to writing hymns this way:

"Where the Psalmist speaks of the pardon of sin through the mercies of God, I rather choose to mention the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God. Where He promises abundance of wealth, honor, and long life, I have changed some of these typical blessings for grace, glory and life eternal, which are brought to light by the gospel, and promised in the New Testament."

Some of Watts' paraphrases are still widely sung today. "O God, Our Help In Ages Past" is a paraphrase of Psalm 90, "Joy To The World" is from Psalm 98, "Jesus Shall Reign," from Psalm 72, and “Give To Our God Immortal Praise” from Psalm 136.