Deity and Humanity of Christ

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 >

Ere the blue heavens were stretch'd abroad. I. Watts. [Divinity and Humanity of Christ.] First published in his Hymns & Sacred Songs, 1707, Bk. i. No. 2, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. In addition to its somewhat extensive use in its original form in Great Britain and America, it is also given in an altered form as, "Before the heavens were spread abroad," in Songs for the Sanctuary, N. Y., 1865-72, and others.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)