341. Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
Founded on the last part of Psalm 72, this is the earliest of the great English hymns on missions. It is sung by all Christian congregations in the homelands and has probably been translated into a greater number of languages and dialects than any other English hymn.
Watts did not hesitate to use the name of Jesus in interpreting the Psalm. On this point, he wrote in the preface to his Psalms:
Where the original runs in the form of prophecy concerning Christ and his salvation, I have given an historical turn to the sense; there is no necessity that we should always sing in the obscure and doubtful style of prediction, when the things foretold are brought into the open light by a full accomplishment.
“Peculiar honors” in stanza 5 means honors appropriate to the various peoples who bring them.
For comments on Isaac Watts see [Hymn 11].
MUSIC. DUKE STREET. This is a psalm tune by John Hatton (d. 1793), a native of Warrington, England, of whom little is known. The tune appeared first in A Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Glasgow, 1793. It has long been associated with this hymn, although other tunes—“Old Hundredth,” “Warrington,” and “Truro”—have also been used with it.