Psalm 1

I've been reading Isaac Watt's metrical psalms as devotional aids. I intend to post a few selections, as they strike me as interesting. If you want to follow along, read the psalm in the Bible (I tend to read the KJV then the NIV), then read Watt's paraphrase out loud, enjoying the cadence of the words. Take time to meditate upon God's Word. End in prayer. This is a simple exercise that I have found helpful over the years. You can add journaling if you wish. If you spend time in prayer at a regular time, twice a day, as many of us do, I suggest reading the New Testament in a structured manner during your other devotional exercise.

A helpful division of the Psalms into morning and evening readings for every day of the month, was made available at our Fall Study this year. Contact the Church Office if you would like a copy. For my purposes here, I'll just make my way through Watt's hymnal. The version I'm using was printed in 1808 in Boston and is titled The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was a nonconfomist (Congregational) minister who lived in the South of England. He is credited with being the first person to introduce "sacred songs" to public worship in Reformed Churches. Previously, the only songs used were adaptations of the psalms. Watts wrote hymns based on other biblical texts. Some of them are still popular today, such as, O God, our Help in Ages Past; Joy to the World; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; and Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun. In the hymnal, Watts gives versions of the psalms based on several musical meters. He often includes specifically Christian terminology, especially when he understands the text to refer to the Messiah, or to find its fulfillment in Christ.
Here's Watt's version of Psalm 1, in long meter.

Happy the man, whose cautious feet

Shun the broad way which sinners go,

Who hates the place where atheists meet,

And fears to talk as scoffers do.

He loves t'employ his morning light

Amongst the statutes of the Lord;

And spends the wakeful hours of night

With pleasure, pond'ring o'er His word.

He, like a plant, by gentle streams,

Shall flourish in immortal green;

And heaven will shine with kindest beams

On every work his hands begin.

But sinners find their councils cross'd:

As chaff before the tempest flies,

So shall their hopes be blown and lost,

When the last trumpet shakes the skies.

In vain the rebel seeks to stand

In judgment with the pious race;

The dreadful Judge, with stern command,

Divides him to a different place.

"Straight is the way my saints have trod;

"I blest the path, and drew it plain;

But you would choose the crooked road,

"And down it leads to endless pain."