Before Jehovah's Awefull Throne
Before Jehovah's awful throne
Before Jehovah's Awefull Throne is a hymn text by Isaac Watts (1719) in C.M. meter. Found in elw 835, lbw 531, lw 454, tlh 13. Sung to OLD HUNDREDTH.
The hymn emphasizes God's transcendent majesty and sovereignty while calling the faithful to joyful obedience and praise, reflecting Lutheran emphasis on the fear of God combined with evangelical joy. It encapsulates the theocentric worldview central to Reformed and Lutheran piety.
History & Background
Isaac Watts paraphrased Psalm 100 in 1719 as part of his influential Psalms of David Imitated. This metrical paraphrase became one of the most enduring congregational hymns in English Protestant worship.
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 835
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 531
- Lutheran Worship — 454
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 13
Bulletin Note
Isaac Watts (1719) penned this paraphrase of Psalm 100 to capture Reformed-Lutheran piety: divine majesty wed to evangelical joy. Sung to OLD HUNDREDTH, it binds Reformation theology to congregational song.
Preaching Connection
This hymn crystallizes the Law-Gospel dynamic: God's transcendent majesty and righteous judgment awaken sinners to their need for grace, drawing them toward grateful worship and obedient service as a Gospel response.
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Universal call to worship → Recognition of God's sovereignty and care → Liturgical entry into God's presence → Affirmation of God's eternal goodness and faithfulness
Overview
Isaac Watts's paraphrase of Psalm 100 from The Psalms of David Imitated (1719), with its now-familiar opening lines supplied by John Wesley. It calls the nations to bow before God, who alone creates and destroys (st. 1); confesses that he made us 'without our aid' and brought us back like wandering sheep (st. 2); asks what honor we can give our Maker (st. 3); promises thankful songs at his gates (st. 4); and ends: 'Wide as the world is Thy command, vast as eternity Thy love; firm as a rock Thy truth must stand' (st. 5). Sung to OLD HUNDREDTH, it is a classic of English psalmody.
Central theme: All nations called to worship the sovereign Creator and Shepherd, whose love and truth are eternal
Structure
Five long-meter quatrains paraphrasing Ps 100. Bow (1) — Maker and Shepherd (2) — his people (3) — his gates (4) — his command, love and truth (5).
Law & Gospel Shape
Gospel: God makes us and brings back the strayed sheep (2). 'He can create and He destroy' (1) — reverent awe.
Confessional Connections
'His sov'reign power, without our aid, made us' — creation is God's work alone (SC First Article), and so is our return: 'He brought us to His fold again' (Isa 53:6; 1 Pet 2:25) — conversion is God's work (FC II). 'Vast as eternity Thy love' and 'firm as a rock Thy truth' — the Gospel's certainty rests on God's eternal faithfulness. The call to 'ye nations' — the universality of God's claim and grace (FC XI).
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Opening of worship; Thanksgiving; missions; national days.
Historical Notes
Watts (1674-1748) is often called the father of English hymnody. John Wesley altered the opening for his Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1737).
About the Tune
OLD HUNDREDTH (Genevan Psalter, 1551; attributed to Louis Bourgeois).
Scripture References
Ps 100 Ps 96:9-10 Deut 32:39 Gen 2:7 Isa 53:6 Luke 15:4-7 1 Pet 2:25 Ps 95:7 Ps 116:12 Ps 100:4 Ps 117 Ps 103:17 Isa 40:8 Ps 119:89
Stanza by Stanza
Before the LORD's awesome throne, you nations, bow with holy joy. Know that the LORD alone is God; he can create and he can destroy.
Ps 100:1-3: 'Make a joyful noise… Know that the LORD, he is God!' 'Sacred joy' — reverence and joy together. 'I kill and I make alive' (Deut 32:39) — sovereign power.
- Scripture
- Ps 100:1-3, Ps 96:9-10, Deut 32:39
- Imagery & language
- Awe-full throne; nations bowing.
- Law / Gospel
- Awe and joy.
- Connection to previous
- Bow.
His sovereign power, without our help, made us from clay and formed us as human beings; and when we strayed like wandering sheep, he brought us back to his fold.
Ps 100:3: 'It is he who made us, and not we ourselves.' Formed from clay (Gen 2:7). 'All we like sheep have gone astray' (Isa 53:6); 'you have now returned to the Shepherd' (1 Pet 2:25). Both creation and restoration are 'without our aid.'
- Scripture
- Ps 100:3, Gen 2:7, Isa 53:6, Luke 15:4-7, 1 Pet 2:25
- Imagery & language
- Clay; wandering sheep; fold.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — we strayed; Gospel — he brought us back.
- Connection to previous
- Maker and Shepherd.
We are his people and his care, our souls and all our mortal bodies. What lasting honors shall we raise, almighty Maker, to your name?
Ps 100:3: 'we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.' Body and soul in his care (SC First Article). 'What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits?' (Ps 116:12).
- Scripture
- Ps 100:3, Ps 95:7, Ps 116:12
- Imagery & language
- His people; mortal frame.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — God's care.
- Connection to previous
- His people.
We will crowd your gates with thankful songs and raise our voices as high as heaven; and earth with its ten thousand tongues will fill your courts with resounding praise.
Ps 100:4: 'Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!' The whole earth praising (Ps 117).
- Scripture
- Ps 100:4, Ps 117, Rev 7:9-10
- Imagery & language
- Gates; ten thousand tongues.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — praise.
- Connection to previous
- Gates.
Your command is as wide as the world, your love as vast as eternity; your truth must stand firm as a rock when the rolling years stop moving.
Ps 100:5: 'the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.' 'The word of our God will stand forever' (Isa 40:8; Ps 119:89). Truth standing when time ends.
- Scripture
- Ps 100:5, Ps 103:17, Isa 40:8, Ps 119:89
- Imagery & language
- World-wide command; eternal love; rock-firm truth.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — eternal love and truth.
- Connection to previous
- Eternal love.
Themes
God's sovereignty Divine majesty and judgment Joyful worship Universal praise Obedience to God