Great God, Attend, While Zion Sings
Great God, Attend, While Zion Sings
Great God, attend, while Zion sings
The joy that from Thy presence springs;
To spend one day with Thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth,
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
Might I enjoy the meanest place
Within Thy house, O God of grace,
Nor tents of ease, nor thrones of power,
Should tempt my feet to leave Thy door,
Should tempt my feet to leave Thy door.
God is our sun, He makes our day;
God is our shield, He guards our way
From all th’assaults of hell and sin,
From foes without and foes within,
From foes without and foes within.
O God, our King, whose sovereign sway
The glorious hosts of heaven obey,
And devils at Thy presence flee;
Blest is the man that trusts in Thee,
Blest is the man that trusts in Thee.
ISAAC WATTS found inspiration for this hymn in the final verses of Psalm 84. But unlike most English hymnwriters of his day, he was not a slave to the Hebrew poetic lines. He would rather the message be fresh and powerful than a word-for-word English reproduction of the original that ended up sounding wooden and obscure. He was the first hymnwriter to successfully challenge the long tradition of strict psalm-singing in the English church.
Watts was motivated to write hymns by the lifeless singing he heard in his services. He once said, “The singing of God’s praise is the part of worship most closely related to heaven; but its performance among us is the worst on earth.” With this somber assessment, he set to work writing hymns that would help his parishioners to worship better.
A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
Psalm 84:10-11
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