Analysis of Psalm 5

Isaac Watts 1674 (Southampton, Hampshire) – 1748 (Stoke Newington, Middlesex)



For the Lord's Day Morning.

Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high;
To thee will I direct my prayer,
To thee lift up mine eye;

Up to the hills where Christ is gone
To plead for all his saints,
Presenting at his Father's throne
Our songs and our complaints.

Thou art a God, before whose sight
The wicked shall not stand;
Sinners shall ne'er be thy delight,
Nor dwell at thy right hand.

But to thy house will I resort,
To taste thy mercies there;
I will frequent thine holy court,
And worship in thy fear.

O may thy Spirit guide my feet
In ways of righteousness!
Make every path of duty straight,
And plain before my face.

My watchful enemies combine
To tempt my feet astray;
They flatter, with a base design
To make my soul their prey.

Lord, crush the serpent in the dust,
And all his plots destroy;
While those that in thy mercy trust,
For ever shout for joy.

The men that love and fear thy name
Shall see their hopes fulfilled;
The mighty God will compass them
With favor as a shield.


Scheme X XABA XCXC DEDE FBFX XXXX GHGH IJIJ XXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 101110 10010111 110101 11110111 111111 11011111 111111 01011101 10101001 11010111 010111 10111101 111111 11111101 111101 11101101 010011 11110111 011100 110011101 010111 11010010 111101 11010101 111111 11010001 011101 11101101 110111 01110111 111101 01011101 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 989
Words 194
Sentences 11
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 33
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 87
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

59 sec read
43

Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was an English Christian minister (Congregational), hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. He is recognized as the "Godfather of English Hymnody"; many of his hymns remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages. more…

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