Angels, that high in glory dwell

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Angels, that high in glory dwell

Author: Isaac Watts (1715)
Published in 20 hymnals

Representative Text

Angels, that high in glory dwell,
Adore thy Name, Almighty God!
And devils tremble down in hell,
Beneath the terrors of thy rod.

64
And yet how wicked children dare
Abuse thy dreadful, glorious Name!
And when they’re angry, how they swear,
And curse their fellows, and blaspheme!

How will they stand before thy face,
Who treated thee with such disdain,
While thou shalt doom them to the place
Of everlasting fire and pain?

Then never shall one cooling drop
To quench their burning tongues be given;
But I will praise thee here, and hope
Thus to employ my tongue in heaven.

My heart shall be in pain to hear
Wretches affront the Lord above:
’Tis that great God whose power I fear,
That heavenly Father whom I love.

If my companions grow profane,
I’ll leave their friendship when I hear
Young sinners take thy Name in vain,
And learn to curse, and learn to swear.

Source: Divine and Moral Songs: attempted in easy language for the use of children with some additional composures #HXIX

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Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Angels, that high in glory dwell
Author:	Isaac Watts (1715)
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Angels that high in glory dwell. I. Watts. [Against Swearing, &c]. First published in his Divine Songs for Children, 1715, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled “Against swearing and cursing, and taking God's name in vain." Its modern use is limited, and in the Methodist Free Church Sunday School Hymn Book, No. 228, it is slightly altered.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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