Come let us join our cheerful songs

Come let us join our cheerful songs. Isaac Watts* (1674-1748). This appeared in Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707), Book I, ‘Collected from the Holy Scriptures’, with the title, ‘Christ Jesus the Lamb of God, Worshipped by all the Creation; Rev. 5.11, 12, 13.’ It skilfully, and freely, paraphrases these verses from Revelation, but instead of straightforwardly following John’s vision, Watts invites us to join the angelic chorus, as they express their single joy in their thousands of voices. Many books have omitted the original stanza 4: Let all that dwell above the sky, And air, and earth, and seas, Conspire to lift thy glories high, And speak thine endless praise. RS keeps this...