From Wikipedia, re: the Battle of Springfield in the American Revolution (1780):
"As the American artillery ran low on wadding, James Caldwell, the Continental Army chaplain who had lost his wife during the Battle of Connecticut Farms [two weeks earlier], brought up a load of hymn books published by English clergyman Isaac Watts to use instead. 'Give ‘em Watts, boys!', he advised."
In the spirit of Mr. Caldwell, today I'm going to "give YOU Watts," i.e. a wonderful hymn of his (#70), in long meter, subtitled, "God's dominion over the sea. Psa. cvii, 23, &c." This is taken from the Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts, previously published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications (currently out of print to my knowledge--glad I grabbed it!).
1 GOD of the seas! thy thund'ring voice
Makes all the roaring waves rejoice,
And one soft word of thy command
Can sink them silent in the sand.
2 If but a Moses wave thy rod,
The sea divides and owns its God;
The stormy floods their Maker knew,
And let his chosen armies through.
3 The scaly flocks amidst the sea,
To thee, their Lord, a tribute pay;
The meanest fish that swims the flood
Leaps up, and means a praise to God.
4 [The larger monsters of the deep
On thy commands attendance keep;
By thy permission sport and play,
And cleave along their foaming way.
5 If God his voice of tempest rears,
Leviathan lies still and fears;
Anon he lifts his nostrils high,
And spouts the ocean to the sky.]
6 How is thy glorious power ador'd
Amidst these wat'ry nations, Lord!
Yet the bold men that trace the seas,
Bold men, refuse their Maker's praise!
7 [What scenes of miracles they see,
And never tune a song to thee!
While on the flood they safely ride,
They curse the hand that smooths the tide!
8 Anon they plunge in wat'ry graves,
And some drink death among the waves;
Yet the surviving crew blaspheme,
Nor own the God that rescued them.]
9 O for some signal of thine hand!
Shake all the seas, Lord, shake the land;
Great Judge! descend, lest men deny
That there's a God that rules the sky.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few comments:
1. I believe the bracketed sections are ones that could be omitted if the song was to be sung more easily, and the overall theme and strength of the hymn still retained.
2. In stanza 4, the word "monsters" can be found in a King James Bible (Lam. 4:3) and in the context refers to whales (sea monsters giving suck to their young ones). Also, I believe that the "leviathan" referred to in Ps. 104:26 refers to the whale, since the whale is the only fish named in scripture, and thus would be the only cross-reference (except for Is. 27:1, which I'll touch on shortly). No matter what any scientist says, a whale is a fish. If you don't believe that, you are making a liar out of Jesus Christ (Jonah 1:17; Mt. 12:40).
3. The fearful connotation that "monsters" has for most people, I believe, stems from the whale's connection with Satan, since most whales and large sea animals are peaceful creatures. Job 41, the most detailed description of Satan in scripture, introduces him as "leviathan," and the same name is given to him in Is. 27:1, where he's said to be a "piercing serpent...crooked serpent...dragon in the sea." So the whale, then, is a physical type of the devil. The earthly leviathan is king of all the aquatic animals, and the spiritual leviathan is king over all "the children of pride" (v. 31) and all "spirtual wickedness in high places" (Mt. 12:26; Eph. 6:12).
Praise God for giving us such hymns and preserving them for posterity. "Give ‘em Watts, boys!"
Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16
