Hymn Story: I Sing the Mighty Power of God

Jeremiah 10:12-13

He hath made the earth by his power,
he hath established the world by his wisdom,
and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;
he maketh lightnings with rain,
and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

"I Sing the Mighty Power of God" was originally included in a hymnal written for children, where it was entitled "Praise for Creation and Providence". Isaac Watts loved children. In 1715 he published Divine and Moral Songs for Children, in the preface of which he wrote, "Children of high and low degree, of the Church of England or Dissenters, baptized in infancy or not, may all join together in these songs. And as I have endeavoured to sink the language to the level of a child’s understanding . . . to profit all, if possible, and offend none."
At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther instructed his followers to sing hymns. However, the great reformer John Calvin only allowed the singing of versified, or paraphrased, Scripture. By Watt’s time, the psalm singing had become dull and lifeless. When 19 year old Isaac complained to his father about this, his father challenged him to write something better. Watts then proceeded to write hundreds of hymns.
In spite of being called "flights of fancy" in his time, and causing dissention in churches, Watts’ hymns are still sung and loved today. Instead of paraphrasing Scripture, "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" compiles imagery from multiple passages: the story of Creation, Genesis 1; Psalm 19:1-3; Psalm 95:3-6, the creation hymn, Psalm 104, and Jeremiah 10:12-13.

Listen to it here: I Sing the Mighty Power of God