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From All That Dwell Below the Skies

From all that dwell below the skies

Watts's Christological appropriation of the psalms is on full display here — 'let the Redeemer's name be sung' is not in Psalm 117 but is entirely characteristic of Watts's method of reading all the psalms as pointing to Christ. For Lutheran use this text exemplifies what Luther himself commended: the reading of the Old Testament in light of Christ, not as a separate or inferior text but as pointing forward to the Gospel. The second stanza's affirmation that divine mercies and truth are eternal grounds the praise in God's unchanging character rather than in fluctuating circumstances.

History & Background

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) wrote this versification of Psalm 117 — the shortest psalm in the Psalter — as part of his landmark collection 'The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament' (1719). Watts's approach to psalm versification was revolutionary: rather than producing metrical translations, he paraphrased the psalms in explicitly Christian terms, bringing New Testament theology to Old Testament texts. Psalm 117's two verses of universal praise became in Watts's hands a three-stanza hymn with explicit reference to the Creator, Redeemer, and eternal word. Set to OLD HUNDREDTH, the text pairs naturally with Kethe's 'All People That on Earth Do Dwell' (also Psalm 100, also OLD HUNDREDTH) as a gathering or closing hymn. Watts's instinct that 'from every land' and 'by every tongue' the praise should arise gives the text an ecumenical and missionary dimension that appeals across traditions.

Hymnal Appearances

  • Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 884
  • Glory to God — 766
  • The Hymnal 1982 — 380
  • United Methodist Hymnal — 101

Bulletin Note

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), from 'The Psalms of David Imitated' (1719). Tune: OLD HUNDREDTH, Louis Bourgeois (1551).

Preaching Connection

Psalm 117 — the shortest psalm — contains the largest vision: all nations, all peoples, eternal mercies, and praise that will sound until the sun no longer rises.

Catechism & Confessional Connections

Themes

praise universal worship Creator Redeemer eternal mercy missionary

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