From All That Dwell Below the Skies

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1. From all that dwell below the skies, let the Creator's praise arise; let the Redeemer's name be sung, through every land by every tongue.

2. Eternal are thy mercies, Lord; eternal truth attends thy word. Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore, till suns shall rise and set no more.

3. Your lofty themes, ye mortals, bring, in songs of praise divinely sing; the great salvation loud proclaim, and shout for joy the Savior's name.

4. In every land begin the song; to every land the strains belong; in cheerful sounds all voices raise, and fill the world with loudest praise.

Words by: Sts. 1-2, Isaac Watts;
Sts. 3-4, Anonymous
Music by: Attr. to John Hatton

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Story of the hymn From All That Dwell Below the Skies

Background and Context

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), often called the "Father of English Hymnody," was a Nonconformist (Dissenting) minister and poet. In his time, English Protestant churches largely restricted congregational singing to strict metrical versions of the Psalms (such as those by Sternhold and Hopkins).

Watts found these inadequate for Christian worship. He believed the Psalms should be "imitated" or paraphrased in New Testament language so that believers could sing of Christ, redemption, and the gospel rather than only Old Testament themes. He produced three different paraphrases of Psalm 117 in the 1719 volume, all under the heading "Praise to God from all Nations." The best-known is the Long Metre (8.8.8.8) version that begins "From all that dwell below the skies."

Psalm 117 in the King James Version reads:
O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.

Watts expands this call for universal praise while Christianizing it:

From all that dwell below the skies,
Let the Creator's praise arise;
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends thy Word;
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore
Till suns shall rise and set no more.

He deliberately introduces "the Redeemer" (Christ) and emphasizes the global, enduring nature of praise.

Significance

The text reflects Watts' broader project of making the Psalms speak the language of the gospel and of envisioning worldwide praise of Christ. Its theme of universal worship has kept it in wide use across denominations for centuries as an opening or praise hymn. It appears in many major hymnals (often in its original two-stanza form or with the added verses) and has been translated into other languages.

In short, it is a concise, elegant example of Watts' revolutionary approach: turning a brief Old Testament call to praise into a distinctly Christian, global song of worship.

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