This is a special day for me because it is both my birthday and wedding anniversary. But long before those events some other major events shaped our world.
1505 Martin Luther enters the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt, Germany. This of course was before he nailed his 95 thesis on the door of the church in Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517 almost 500 years ago.
1603 Sir Walter Raleigh was arrested by King James I for treason. Raleigh is famous for explori
ng South America for gold and the legend of El Dorado and popularizing tobacco use in England. King James I is known for being King of England during William Shakespeare’s life and being the patron of the 1611 King James Bible.
1674 Isaac Watts English poet and hymn writer was born. He was learning Latin by age 4, Greek at 9, French at 11, and Hebrew at 13. He was the son of a pastor and he himself became pastor of a London church in 1701 and in 1707 published Hymns and Spiritual Songs and The Divine and Moral Songs for Children in 1715. Some of his more famous hymns are:
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- Joy to the World
- Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed
- O God, Our Help in Ages Past
For a full list of his over 500 hymns see the Cyber Hymnal.
Isaac Watts is a special one to me because he was born 300 years before me to the day. One of the best biographies on Isaac Watts is Graham Beynon’s Isaac Watts His Life and Thought.
One reason Isaac Watts was such a prolific hymn writer was his intense prayer life. He even wrote a book called A Guide to Prayer that you can now get for $1 or free and you can find an explanation of his rules for prayer here.
Briefly, his rules for prayers are:
1. Strive to know God and yourself in light of the Scripture
2. Use methods to guide you
3. Be specific
4. Read, discuss, and meditate first
5. Read the prayers of the Bible, especially the Psalms
6. Pray about your inability to pray
Brad's Bookshelves 