Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) was an English Independent minister, theologian, educator, poet, and hymn writer whose work helped transform English-language Protestant congregational song. Born in Southampton on July 17, 1674, into a Nonconformist family, he was educated at the dissenting academy of Thomas Rowe at Stoke Newington because his religious convictions excluded him from Oxford and Cambridge. After working as a tutor, Watts entered ministry in London and in 1702 became pastor of the Independent congregation associated with Mark Lane.

Watts published widely in theology, education, philosophy, poetry, and devotion. His major collections for congregational use include Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children, and The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719). In the latter work he reshaped the Psalms for Christian worship rather than limiting himself to close metrical translation. His best-known texts include “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and “Come, We That Love the Lord.”

Persistent ill health limited Watts’s public ministry in later years, and from 1712 he lived largely with the Abney family while continuing to write and serve his congregation. He died on November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields in London. His combination of biblical imagery, doctrinal clarity, and language designed for congregational singing exerted a lasting influence across many Protestant traditions.