Isaac Watts: 1674-1748
"It’s All About You, Jesus"
CHCC: June 22, 2008
INTRODUCTION:
We just finished a series of sermons from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Every few chapters in both books you see a long list with the names of the exiles who returned to rebuild Jerusalem.
I noticed something interesting in these lists. They all included listings of musicians and singers. Music has always held an essential place in the Worship of God. Of course worship is much more than just music … but music has always been a central part of worship. So today I want to spend some time talking about Worship Music.
Now, that is a BIG subject. If we look at Worship Music historically, we need to go back to the first books of the Bible. Exodus records songs of praise written by Moses and Miriam. Numbers records a song of praise that starts with the words, “Spring up Oh Well…” (Which makes sense when you consider the Israelites were wandering in a desert.) Then, of course, we have the hymn book of the Old Testament which we call the book of Psalms.
The New Testament records Mary’s song and Zachariah’s song. And on the night of the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn before going to the Mount of Olives. We read about Paul and Silas singing praise to God while in prison. Paul gave the early church this instruction: Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, Ephesians 5:19
Moving on, a few hundred years or so there were the chants of the Middle Ages, the antiphonal choral music of the Cathedrals, and the sacred hymns of the Reformation. By the way, that’s the kind of music that was playing before church started this morning. Now you know why you felt like you’d gone back in time!
Until the 1500’s congregational singing had gone by the wayside in most churches. People went to church to listen to singing by professional choirs, not to join in the praises themselves. When Martin Luther set off the Reformation, congregational singing was revived.
It was said of Martin Luther that: “He did as much for the Reformation by his hymns as he did by his translation of the Bible.” In fact, those words are inscribed on his tomb at Wittenberg. In all, Martin Luther wrote 36 hymns which were meant for congregational singing. The best known of those hymns is A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD.
Luther’s hymns opened the way for the congregational hymns of the 18th century and the gospel choruses of the 20th century. And, all that leads up to the great variety of Christian music we enjoy in the 21st century. Music has a central place in the history of the church. And music is an important part of life for most of us today.
The week before last I made a trip to Lincoln, Illinois. I drove Dallas and Alpha’s car up there and left it off for them. (It was an 18-hour road trip, but I actually enjoyed most of it. The reason I enjoyed it was not JUST that I was driving a red SAAB with lots of pickup --- that got 35 miles per gallon by the way --- The reason I enjoyed that long trip was because I was listening to all kinds of music on a great sound system (at top volume!)
I listened to some of my favorite old CD’s … and to some new ones. One of the new CD’s was a re-mastering of some vintage Big Band music. Susan’s parents live in Lincoln … and when they heard the music, they wanted to hear it. They said those old songs brought back memories from their youth … in the 40’s.
That’s the way music is. Just hearing music can stir up old memories and emotions. Music sets a mood. It can sooth us or it can wake us up. Music helps us remember. I’m not all that great at memorizing, but I can remember the lyrics of songs I learned 40 years ago. Music orders our thoughts. In church, music unites us in voice and in purpose.
Music is powerful. I believe God created music to help connect our spirits to His Spirit. Think about the Christian music that you have listened to throughout your life. What Christian Songs mean the most to you? Are they OLD songs, or are they NEW songs? OR maybe you are like me and you enjoy both OLD and NEW.
Today I want to take a little time to talk about a writer of Christian songs who lived hundreds of years back. How many of you have heard of Isaac Watts?
In his day, Isaac Watts wrote many hymns … including one of my favorites … which we sang today: WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS. Isaac Watts also wrote this song: (whistle the tune of Joy to the World) Can anyone name that tune?
The story of Isaac Watts is interesting … and I think it has something to teach us today. When Isaac Watts was born … in 1674 … his Father was in prison because he was a “dissenter” against the Church of England. What that means is that he was basically “non-denominational.”
That’s very much like our church here at CHCC. We’re also considered nondenominational. The main difference is that at that time in English history, it was against the law to refuse to be part of the official Church of England. Before long, though, the political situation changed and Isaac Watts’ father was allowed to return to his home and his church. He served all his life as a deacon in his “dissenting” church.
Here’s what biographers say about young Isaac Watts. One day Isaac was walking home from Church with his Father and he started complaining about the music they sang in church that day. Isaac said the church music was boring. (Sound familiar to anyone?) This young man found the church music predictable and uninspiring and he felt the people at church weren’t into the Worship. They seemed like they were just going through the motions.
Back then, most churches sang what was called the Psalmody. Christian people had been singing the Psalms for centuries, of course. In fact, about a hundred years earlier, John Calvin insisted the Psalmody was the only proper worship for church … so many churches sang ONLY the Psalms.
When congregations sang the Psalms, they generally used a monotonous sort of chant … with no instruments accompanying them. In Isaac Watts’ congregation, a man called the “church clerk” would sing out a note and everyone would chant the song on that note.
Some of the Psalms were not translated in a way that made them very poetic or meaningful. Here’s an example of the lyrics they chanted in church: (repeat after me)
“Ye monsters of the bubbling deep, ………….
Your Master’s praises spout ………….
Up from the sands ye codlings peep ………………..
and wag your tails about.” ……………. Based on Psalm 148:7
I tried to find an audio sample of this kind of music to play this morning,but evidently nobody records this type of singing. I will say this: the people who described it back then said the noise was pretty awful.
Here’s what Isaac Watts wrote later on: “The singing of God’s praise is the part of worship most closely related to heaven; but its performance among us is the worst on the earth.”
When young Isaac complained about the music in his church, what do you think his dad … the deacon … said? Most of us would probably get defensive. We might give the kid a lecture about respecting his elders. We might say, “Hey, we’ve done it like this all my life … and my pappy did it like this and his pappy before him … so who are YOU to complain?”
But Isaac’s dad didn’t say anything like that. What this wise church leader DID say to his son transformed church worship for the next hundred years.
Isaac’s father said, “Well, then, son … if that’s how you feel, why don’t you mend the matter?” In other words, “why don’t you write some of your own music?” (Who Stole My Church? Gordon MacDonald p. 96)
And that’s exactly what Isaac Watts did. In fact, he wrote a new hymn that afternoon … and the Congregation sang it with enthusiasm that same evening. After that, Isaac Watts wrote a new hymn every week for the next two years.
Watts wanted to write music that would reach the people of his day. He chose simple tunes that matched the folk music and popular tunes people were used to. He used the kind of language and the kinds of images that were familiar.
He wanted people to be able to ENJOY the music of the church. He wanted church music to be beautiful in its lyrics and in its melody.
But most important, Watts wanted people in the church to be free to worship Jesus Christ with their songs. Singing only the Psalms meant that Jesus was never mentioned in the music of the church. After all, the Psalms were written a thousand years before the birth of Christ. Their themes did not include the words or work of Jesus. The Psalms did not present the Gospel message.
Much of Watts’ music was written to accompany the Lords’ Supper. The lyrics of WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS … which we sang during the Lord’s Supper today … and other hymns like ALAS AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED and BREAD OF HEAVEN helped people focus on the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
Other music was meant to celebrate the life of Jesus. Think how joyful Christians must have felt when they first sang songs like HARK THE HEARALD ANGELS SING, GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING! …and I LOVE THY KINGDOM LORD …., and JESUS SHALL REIGN.
These new Christian songs made their way from England to America in the mid 1700’s. The Colonies were just beginning to be settled in America. The now-famous preacher, Jonathan Edwards was in the middle of leading a spiritual revival that spread all across the Northeast. Songs like: O GOD OUR HELP IN AGES PAST, and JESUS SHALL REIGN and GLORIOUS THINGS OF THEE ARE SPOKEN fit the spirit of Revival in America.
Now here’s the interesting part. Those songs … that many of us see as staid old traditional hymns … Those songs were controversial in that day. There was a lot of bitterness and conflict over replacing the traditional Psalmody that so many had grown up singing with this new-fangled modern-sounding music. Critics called these new songs hymns of human composure. As far as they were concerned, Isaac Watts was a RADICAL!
There were people in many churches who simply refused to sing any of Watts’ songs. Instead of singing, they stood in silent protest while the rest of the Congregation sang BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS or HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING.
Now that you know this, you might see the words of one of Watts’ well-known songs in a new light. How many of you have ever sung WE’RE MARCHING TO ZION? (Turn to page 555 in your hymnbook and feel free to sing along with me …oops, we have no hymnbooks do we.)
Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joy be known
Join in a song with sweet accord, Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne, And thus surround the throne
We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion …
We’re marching upward to Zion, then beautiful city of God.
Now, here are the words of the second verse:
Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God.
But children of the heavenly King
But children of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad, May speak their joys abroad.
We’re marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion …
We’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.
Chances are that Isaac Watts was sending a none-to-subtle message to those who refused to sing any of the new music he’d written! I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful those reactionaries didn’t prevail. The Church would have missed out on some powerful hymns of worship if those who refused to sing had their way!
In 1707, Watts published a famous collection of 210 hymns called HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS. This was the first real Hymnbook in the English language. And … you can bet that made a few church folks mad, too. … Some figured it was unspiritual to use a hymnbook in church. After all, the Bible never talks about a hymnal. And far as far back as they could remember, people in church just repeated what the church clerk called out. That’s the way a church service was supposed to be!
All in all, Isaac Watts wrote over 600 hymns before his death at the age of 74 in 1748. Fifteen of his songs were in the last hymnal we used here at our church. In our church, we continue to sing some songs from past Christian writers. We also sing a lot of NEW songs. Whether we are using new music or old, the important thing is that we lift our voices and our hearts and our minds toward our God.
CONCLUSION:
This summer, I plan to preach a few more sermons about some of the great Christian song writers in England and America’s history. This information has been eye-opening to me, and I hope it will be to you, too.
In Psalm 149 David gave this call to worship: Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful. Psalm 149:1-3 NLT Watts’ songs may be old to us, but they were NEW in his day.
Our Invitation Song today is a newer song that I believe Isaac Watts would have loved. It’s called HEART OF WORSHIP and it talks about why we sing … It’s all about you, Jesus. Prayer
