Great Shepherd of thine Israel,Who didst between the cherubs dwell,And lead the tribes, thy chosen sheep,Safe through the desert and the deep;
Thy church is in the desert now,Shine from on high and guide us through;Turn us to thee, thy love restore,We shall be saved and sigh no more.
Great God, whom heav'nly hosts obey,How long shall we lament and pray,And wait in vain thy kind return?How long shall thy fierce anger burn?
Instead of wine and cheerful breadThy saints with their own tears are fed:Turn us to thee, thy love restore,We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
PAUSE I.
Hast thou not planted with thy handsA lovely vine in heathen lands?Did not thy power defend it round,And heav'nly dews enrich the ground?
How did the spreading branches shoot,And bless the nations with the fruit!But now, dear Lord, look down and seeThy mourning vine, that lovely tree.
Why is its beauty thus defaced?Why hast thou laid her fences waste?Strangers and foes against her join,And every beast devours the vine.
Return, Almighty God, return,Nor let thy bleeding vineyard mourn;Turn us to thee, thy love restore,We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
PAUSE II.
Lord, when this vine in Canaan grew,Thou wast its strength and glory too;Attacked in vain by all its foes,Till the fair Branch of Promise rose:
Fair Branch, ordained of old to shootFrom David's stock, from Jacob's root;Himself a noble vine, and weThe lesser branches of the tree.
'Tis thy own Son; and he shall standGirt with thy strength at thy right hand;Thy first-born Son, adorned and blestWith power and grace above the rest.
O for his sake attend our cry,Shine on thy churches lest they die;Turn us to thee, thy love restore,We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
About the author
About the poet
Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 650 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in use today, and have been translated into many languages.
Born in Southampton, England, in 1674, Watts was brought up in the home of a committed religious Nonconformist — his father, also Isaac Watts, had been incarcerated twice for his controversial views. At King Edward VI School (where one of the houses is now named "Watts" in his honour), Watts learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. From an early age, Watts displayed a propensity for rhyme.
Watts, unable to go to either Oxford or Cambridge on account of his non-conformity, went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, and much of his life centred around that village, which is now part of Inner London.
His education led him to the pastorate of a large independent chapel in London, where he found himself in the position of helping trainee preachers, despite his poor health. Taking work as a private tutor, Watts lived with the Nonconformist Hartopp family at Fleetwood House, on Church Street in Stoke Newington, and later in the household of their immediate neighbours Sir Thomas Abney and Lady Mary. Though a Nonconformist, Sir Thomas practised occasional conformity to the Church of England, as necessitated by his being Lord Mayor of London between 1700 and 1701. Likewise, Isaac Watts held religious opinions that were more non-denominational or ecumenical than was at that time common for a Nonconformist; he had a greater interest in promoting education and scholarship than preaching for any particular ministry.
On the death of Sir Thomas Abney, Watts moved permanently with his widow and her remaining unmarried daughter, Elizabeth, to Abney House in Stoke Newington, a property that Mary had inherited from her brother. He lived there from 1748 to his death. The grounds at Abney Park led down to an island heronry in the Hackney Brook, where he sought inspiration for the many books and hymns he wrote.
Watts died in Stoke Newington in 1748, and was buried in Bunhill Fields, having left an extensive legacy of hymns, treatises, educational works and essays. His work was influential amongst Nonconformist independents and early religious revivalists, such as Philip Doddridge, who dedicated his best known work to Watts. On his death, Isaac Watts' papers were given to Yale University in then-colonial Connecticut.