I Sing the Mighty Power of God
Poem of the Week
As regular SOS readers know, it is National Poetry Month, and we are featuring a poem once a week through April.
I Sing the Mighty Power of God was written for children by English pastor and writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748), who also penned other well-known hymns, including Joy to the World, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Jesus Shall Reign, O God Our Help in Ages Past, and Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed. He wrote more than 800 hymns.
From his youth Isaac loved books. By the time he was 13, he was proficient in five languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and English. As a child, Watts exhibited a prodigious talent for spontaneously speaking in verse (rhyme). This irritated his father, who thought young Isaac was being impertinent. One day, when little Isaac was enjoined to speak in rhyme no more, he replied, “O Father, do some pity take; and I will no more verses make.” His father then realized that the boy could not help his versification. He encouraged the boy to use his talents to write better hymns than were then available.
Watts studied to be a pastor and spent most of his life serving the Lord. He suffered from ill health for many years, but he still spent much time in studying and writing.
The hymn below was published in 1715 in a collection of verses by Isaac Watts, Divine and Moral Songs for Children. The hymn is commonly sung to several tunes.
I sing the mighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food:
Who formed the creatures with His Word,
And then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
There’s not a plant or flower below,
But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee
Is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that man can be,
Thou God art present there.
LESSON PLAN
What is the meter of this poem? (Answer: 8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6. This is called Common Meter because this syllable pattern is very common in English poetry.)
What is the rhyme scheme? (Answer: ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJKLKL MNMNOHOH. In poetry, words may rhyme by sound [eye, sky, nigh] or by spelling [move and love, Word and Lord]. The latter are called “eye rhymes.” Keep in mind, too, that some word pronunciations vary with time or by country. For example, “been” is pronounced like “bean” in Canada. “Blood” rhymes with “food” in Scotland.)
Look up the following Bible verses and point to where Isaac Watts incorporated them into his poem: Luke 9:43; Amos 4:13; Genesis 1 (entire chapter); I Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 19:1; Luke 12:27; Psalm 147:8-9; Psalm 107:25; Job 12:7-9; Psalm 139:7-12). Can you think of other verses that apply?
Re-write the verses in prose. Look up the meanings of words you do not know.
Sing the hymn as a family.