God is a [the] Name my soul adores. I. Watts. [God the Creator.] Appeared in his Horae Lyricae, 1706, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "The Creator and Creatures." It is also in Watts's Works of various dates. Two or three centos from this hymn are in common use, all commencing with stanza i., one of the earliest of which is that in Toplady's Psalms & Hymns, 1776, No. 170. Dr. Martineau's cento in his Hymns, &c, 1840, and Hymns of Praise & Prayer, 1873, is composed of stanzas i., iii., iv., vii., viii. In some of the American collections the opening line begins, "God is the Name," &c, as in the Plymouth Collection, 1855, and others.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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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