"How sad our state by nature is" by Isaac Watts. Gadsby Hymn 764. Tune 'Eventide'.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748), the author of this hymn, was an English minister, theologian, and hymn writer often called the “Father of English Hymnody.” In the medieval English church, the Psalms were sung in Latin from the Psalter as part of the Divine Office and the Mass. After the English Reformation, the Psalms continued to be sung in English, notably through the Book of Common Prayer, which used the prose translation of the Psalms from the Great Bible. These Psalms were generally sung or chanted rather than set to the metrical hymn tunes familiar today. Metrical psalters later became common among English Protestants, enabling congregations to sing the Psalms in rhyme and meter. Watts greatly influenced Protestant congregational singing by composing original hymns and by adapting the Psalms into metrical forms that more explicitly reflected New Testament truths concerning Christ and His kingdom. Watts wrote hundreds of hymns. Some of his most famous hymns include “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, “Joy to the World,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Watts was born in Southampton. From a young age he showed exceptional skill with language and poetry. After studying at Stoke Newington Academy, he became a pastor for a Nonconformist congregation in London. In addition to hymns, Watts wrote books on theology, logic, and education, including The Improvement of the Mind, which was widely used as a guide to clear thinking and study. Isaac Watts spent much of his later life in Stoke Newington, London, where he continued writing despite poor health. He died in 1748, leaving a legacy that deeply influenced Christian worship and English religious poetry. His hymns are still sung in churches around the world today. _______________ “But there’s a voice of sovereign grace Sounds from the sacred word;” From J. C. Philpot on the text, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:22): …Now, if we look at the Lord's invitations in the Scriptures, to whom are they addressed? Are they not spoken to those who are poor and needy, hungry and thirsty, wearied and heavy laden? Are not these the very characters whom the Lord enriches, feeds, refreshes, and blesses? Look, for instance, at the words of the text. There is an invitation in it; for the Lord speaks and says, "Look unto me." But to whom are the words addressed? "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." He does not, then, speak to those who are near, but to those who are afar off, the ends of the earth, and to them he addresses this gracious invitation…To all the ends of the earth, then, the Lord here speaks. Now he cannot mean the literal, or natural earth, for that has no ears to hear, being nothing but so much gross, inanimate matter; he must, therefore, certainly speak to the inhabitants of the earth, to those who dwell in the ends of the earth, and not to the earth itself. But what characters, experimentally and spiritually, are here called "the ends of the earth," to whom the Lord thus addresses himself? An expression in Psalm 61:2, throws a light upon the question. "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." "The ends of the earth," then, represent characters at the farthest possible distance from God in their feelings, at the remotest bounds of creation, and separated by all this wide interval from that God whom they desire to fear, and in whose approving smile they long to bask... But let us see, with God's blessing, what it is that brings the soul to feel itself to be in this spot, for it is soul feeling here spoken of...1...a sense of guilt falls upon the conscience, and by that sense of guilt we are driven out from the presence of the Lord...2...shame also and confusion of face join to drive the soul to "the ends of the earth."...3...Darkness of mind also—an experience we are utterly unacquainted with till light and life make it manifest...4...If ...we have basely departed from him, backslidden from his gracious ways... Gadsby Hymn 764: 1 How sad our state by nature is; Our sin how deep its stains; And Satan binds our captive minds Fast in his slavish chains. 2 But there’s a voice of sovereign grace Sounds from the sacred word; “Ho! ye despairing sinners come, And trust upon the Lord.” 3 My soul obeys the almighty call, And runs to this relief; I would believe thy promise, Lord; O help my unbelief. 4 To the dear fountain of thy blood, Incarnate God, I fly; Here let me wash my spotted soul From crimes of deepest dye. 5 Stretch out thy arm, victorious King, My reigning sins subdue; Drive the old dragon from his seat, With all his hellish crew. 6 A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On thy kind arms I fall, Be thou my strength and righteousness, My Jesus, and my all.