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'Twas God who formed the rolling spheres

Appears in 40 hymnals Hymnal Title: Calvin Hymnary Project

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'Twas God who hurl'd the rolling spheres

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches #36 (1817) Hymnal Title: A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches Languages: English
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'Twas God who hurl'd the rolling spheres

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy #36 (1834) Hymnal Title: A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy Languages: English
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'Twas God who hurl'd the rolling spheres

Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy #36 (1814) Meter: 8.6.8.6 Hymnal Title: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy Lyrics: 1 'Twas God who hurl'd the rolling spheres, And stretch'd the boundless skies; Who form'd the plan of endless years, And bade the ages rise. 2 From everlasting is his might, Immense and unconfin'd: He pierces through the realms of light, And rides upon the wind. 3 He darts along the burning skies; Loud thunders round him roar: All heav'n attends him, as he flies; All hell proclaims his pow'r. 4 He scatters nations with his breath; The scatter'd nations fly: Blue pestilence and wasting death, Confess the Godhead nigh. 5 Ye worlds, with ev'ry living thing, Fulfil his high command: Mortals, pay homage to your King, And own his ruling hand. Topics: Character and Perfections of God Languages: English

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James Martineau

1805 - 1900 Person Name: Martineau Hymnal Title: A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ Author of "'Twas God who fixed the rolling spheres" in A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ Martineau, James, LL.D., D.D., born at Norwich, April 21, 1805, the son of a manufacturer and wine merchant of Huguenot descent. After four years at the Norwich grammar school, and two as a pupil of Dr. Lant Carpenter, at Bristol, and a short experience in the shops of a mechanical engineer at Derby, he entered as a Divinity student in Manchester College, York. His first ministry was at Eustace St. Chapel, Dublin [1828-32], as assistant to his cousin, the Rev. Philip Taylor. From 1832 to 1857 he was in Liverpool, as minister of the congregation meeting in Paradise St. Chapel, and from 1849 in the new Hope St. Church. In 1840 he was appointed professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College and in 1857 followed the college to London, becoming its Principal in 1869 and resigning in 1885. On settling in London he became also minister of Little Portland St. Chapel, first in conjunction with the Rev. J. J. Taylor, and afterwards alone till his resignation in 1872. He received the degree of D.C.L. from Oxford in 1888. Died Jan. 11, 1900. The chief of Dr. Martineau's works hitherto published are four volumes of sermons, Endeavours after the Christian Life, 2 vols., 1843 and 1847; Hours of Thought on Sacred Things, 2 vols., 1876 and 1879; Studies of Christianity, 1858; Essays Philosophical and Theological 2 vols., 1866 and 1868, collected from various Reviews; A Study of Spinoza, 1882; and Types of Ethical Theories, 2 vols., 1885, 2nd ed. 1886. These contain the substance of his teaching as a Christian minister and an expounder of a spiritual philosophy of religion. By early training and matured conviction a Unitarian of the Catholic and spiritual type, Dr. Martineau has served not only the little group of churches with which he is immediately connected, but the Church Universal by his gifts of sympathy and insight into the deepest questions of human life. He has strengthened the foundations of faith in the light of modern knowledge, and added treasures, the worth of which have yet to be fully measured, to the rich store of the devout literature of the Church. The Catholic spirit and deeply Christian temper impressed upon all Dr. Martineau's literary work give their distinctive character to the three hymn-books which he has edited, viz.:— (1) A Collection of Hymns for Christian Worship. Dublin: Printed for the Congregation of Eustace Street 1831. This collection of 273 hymns already clearly indicates the principles of selection afterwards to be more fully worked out. It was made for the use of a society, "whose worship is paid solely to the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," and in adopting the hymns of Dr. Watts and others, such changes are made as are required by theological consistency; but the preface pleads for a wider latitude of choice than had been usual in older selections, "bringing all the resources of lyric poetry (the poetry of the affections) into the service of religion." There are 18 hymns by Bishop Heber introduced, and special mention is made of his merit in ”first liberalizing the style of poetry designed for our churches." During his ministry in Liverpool Dr. Martineau published:— (2) Hymns for the Christian Church and Home. Collected and edited by James Martineau. London, 1840. This with his own congregation took the place of the old Paradise St. collection of 1815, and was quickly recognised as pre-eminent among the books in use among the non-subscribing churches. Dr. Martineau's last collection was:— (3) Hymns of Praise and Prayer, collected and edited by James Martineau, LL.D., D.D. “Vatum suspiria solatium Ecclesiae." London, 1873. Dr. Martineau's own hymns:— 1. A Voice upon the mid-night air. Good Friday 2. Thy way is in [on] the deep, 0 Lord. Trust. 3. "Where is your God?" Inward witness of God. They have been hitherto published anonymously, but the authorship is now acknowledged. Nos. 1, 2, appeared first in his Hymns, &c, 1840, and 3 in his Hymns, &c.,1873. They are also found in other collections in Great Britain and America. [Rev. Valentine D. Davis, B.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Isaac Watts

1674 - 1748 Person Name: Watts Hymnal Title: Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the use of Christian Congregations Author of "'Twas God who hurl'd the rolling spheres" in Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the use of Christian Congregations 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 labours. He did not retire from ministerial duties, but preached as often as his delicate health would permit. The number of Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in 1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is everywhere known. Some of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts "the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honour can hardly be disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred. Watts died November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields. A monumental statue was erected in Southampton, his native place, and there is also a monument to his memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. "Happy," says the great contemporary champion of Anglican orthodoxy, "will be that reader whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God." ("Memorials of Westminster Abbey," p. 325.) --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872. ================================= Watts, Isaac, D.D. The father of Dr. Watts was a respected Nonconformist, and at the birth of the child, and during its infancy, twice suffered imprisonment for his religious convictions. In his later years he kept a flourishing boarding school at Southampton. Isaac, the eldest of his nine children, was born in that town July 17, 1674. His taste for verse showed itself in early childhood. He was taught Greek, Latin, and Hebrew by Mr. Pinhorn, rector of All Saints, and headmaster of the Grammar School, in Southampton. The splendid promise of the boy induced a physician of the town and other friends to offer him an education at one of the Universities for eventual ordination in the Church of England: but this he refused; and entered a Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, under the care of Mr. Thomas Rowe, the pastor of the Independent congregation at Girdlers' Hall. Of this congregation he became a member in 1693. Leaving the Academy at the age of twenty, he spent two years at home; and it was then that the bulk of the Hymns and Spiritual Songs (published 1707-9) were written, and sung from manuscripts in the Southampton Chapel. The hymn "Behold the glories of the Lamb" is said to have been the first he composed, and written as an attempt to raise the standard of praise. In answer to requests, others succeeded. The hymn "There is a land of pure delight" is said to have been suggested by the view across Southampton Water. The next six years of Watts's life were again spent at Stoke Newington, in the post of tutor to the son of an eminent Puritan, Sir John Hartopp; and to the intense study of these years must be traced the accumulation of the theological and philosophical materials which he published subsequently, and also the life-long enfeeblement of his constitution. Watts preached his first sermon when he was twenty-four years old. In the next three years he preached frequently; and in 1702 was ordained pastor of the eminent Independent congregation in Mark Lane, over which Caryl and Dr. John Owen had presided, and which numbered Mrs. Bendish, Cromwell's granddaughter, Charles Fleetwood, Charles Desborough, Sir John Hartopp, Lady Haversham, and other distinguished Independents among its members. In this year he removed to the house of Mr. Hollis in the Minories. His health began to fail in the following year, and Mr. Samuel Price was appointed as his assistant in the ministry. In 1712 a fever shattered his constitution, and Mr. Price was then appointed co-pastor of the congregation which had in the meantime removed to a new chapel in Bury Street. It was at this period that he became the guest of Sir Thomas Abney, under whose roof, and after his death (1722) that of his widow, he remained for the rest of his suffering life; residing for the longer portion of these thirty-six years principally at the beautiful country seat of Theobalds in Herts, and for the last thirteen years at Stoke Newington. His degree of D.D. was bestowed on him in 1728, unsolicited, by the University of Edinburgh. His infirmities increased on him up to the peaceful close of his sufferings, Nov. 25, 1748. He was buried in the Puritan restingplace at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey. His learning and piety, gentleness and largeness of heart have earned him the title of the Melanchthon of his day. Among his friends, churchmen like Bishop Gibson are ranked with Nonconformists such as Doddridge. His theological as well as philosophical fame was considerable. His Speculations on the Human Nature of the Logos, as a contribution to the great controversy on the Holy Trinity, brought on him a charge of Arian opinions. His work on The Improvement of the Mind, published in 1741, is eulogised by Johnson. His Logic was still a valued textbook at Oxford within living memory. The World to Come, published in 1745, was once a favourite devotional work, parts of it being translated into several languages. His Catechisms, Scripture History (1732), as well as The Divine and Moral Songs (1715), were the most popular text-books for religious education fifty years ago. The Hymns and Spiritual Songs were published in 1707-9, though written earlier. The Horae Lyricae, which contains hymns interspersed among the poems, appeared in 1706-9. Some hymns were also appended at the close of the several Sermons preached in London, published in 1721-24. The Psalms were published in 1719. The earliest life of Watts is that by his friend Dr. Gibbons. Johnson has included him in his Lives of the Poets; and Southey has echoed Johnson's warm eulogy. The most interesting modern life is Isaac Watts: his Life and Writings, by E. Paxton Hood. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] A large mass of Dr. Watts's hymns and paraphrases of the Psalms have no personal history beyond the date of their publication. These we have grouped together here and shall preface the list with the books from which they are taken. (l) Horae Lyricae. Poems chiefly of the Lyric kind. In Three Books Sacred: i.To Devotion and Piety; ii. To Virtue, Honour, and Friendship; iii. To the Memory of the Dead. By I. Watts, 1706. Second edition, 1709. (2) Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In Three Books: i. Collected from the Scriptures; ii. Composed on Divine Subjects; iii. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. By I. Watts, 1707. This contained in Bk i. 78 hymns; Bk. ii. 110; Bk. iii. 22, and 12 doxologies. In the 2nd edition published in 1709, Bk. i. was increased to 150; Bk. ii. to 170; Bk. iii. to 25 and 15 doxologies. (3) Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children. By I. Watts, London, 1715. (4) The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, And apply'd to the Christian State and Worship. By I. Watts. London: Printed by J. Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Poultry, &c, 1719. (5) Sermons with hymns appended thereto, vol. i., 1721; ii., 1723; iii. 1727. In the 5th ed. of the Sermons the three volumes, in duodecimo, were reduced to two, in octavo. (6) Reliquiae Juveniles: Miscellaneous Thoughts in Prose and Verse, on Natural, Moral, and Divine Subjects; Written chiefly in Younger Years. By I. Watts, D.D., London, 1734. (7) Remnants of Time. London, 1736. 454 Hymns and Versions of the Psalms, in addition to the centos are all in common use at the present time. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================================== Watts, I. , p. 1241, ii. Nearly 100 hymns, additional to those already annotated, are given in some minor hymn-books. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ================= Watts, I. , p. 1236, i. At the time of the publication of this Dictionary in 1892, every copy of the 1707 edition of Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs was supposed to have perished, and all notes thereon were based upon references which were found in magazines and old collections of hymns and versions of the Psalms. Recently three copies have been recovered, and by a careful examination of one of these we have been able to give some of the results in the revision of pp. 1-1597, and the rest we now subjoin. i. Hymns in the 1709 ed. of Hymns and Spiritual Songs which previously appeared in the 1707 edition of the same book, but are not so noted in the 1st ed. of this Dictionary:— On pp. 1237, L-1239, ii., Nos. 18, 33, 42, 43, 47, 48, 60, 56, 58, 59, 63, 75, 82, 83, 84, 85, 93, 96, 99, 102, 104, 105, 113, 115, 116, 123, 124, 134, 137, 139, 146, 147, 148, 149, 162, 166, 174, 180, 181, 182, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 200, 202. ii. Versions of the Psalms in his Psalms of David, 1719, which previously appeared in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707:— On pp. 1239, U.-1241, i., Nos. 241, 288, 304, 313, 314, 317, 410, 441. iii. Additional not noted in the revision:— 1. My soul, how lovely is the place; p. 1240, ii. 332. This version of Ps. lxiv. first appeared in the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, as "Ye saints, how lovely is the place." 2. Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine; p. 1055, ii. In the 1707 edition of Hymns & Spiritual Songs, Bk. i., No. 35, and again in his Psalms of David, 1719. 3. Sing to the Lord with [cheerful] joyful voice, p. 1059, ii. This version of Ps. c. is No. 43 in the Hymns & Spiritual Songs, 1707, Bk. i., from which it passed into the Ps. of David, 1719. A careful collation of the earliest editions of Watts's Horae Lyricae shows that Nos. 1, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, p. 1237, i., are in the 1706 ed., and that the rest were added in 1709. Of the remaining hymns, Nos. 91 appeared in his Sermons, vol. ii., 1723, and No. 196 in Sermons, vol. i., 1721. No. 199 was added after Watts's death. It must be noted also that the original title of what is usually known as Divine and Moral Songs was Divine Songs only. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) =========== See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church