Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun
Isaac Watts · 1719 · tune DUKE STREET
Key of G · public domain
Words
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
And praises throng to crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud Amen.
The story
Psalm 72 is a coronation psalm, a prayer that the king's rule would reach from sea to sea and that he would deliver the needy. Watts read it as a prayer no king of Israel ever answered and published it in 1719 under the heading Christ's kingdom among the Gentiles. That is the whole argument of the hymn in one move. The fourth verse is where it gets specific and where it stops being decorative: the prisoner leaps to lose his chains, the weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blest. It was sung in 1862 in Tonga at the signing of a constitution that freed the island's people, which is as close as a hymn gets to being taken at its word.
Chords in G
In the app you can move this to any key and it works out the capo for you.
Common questions
Who wrote Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun? Isaac Watts wrote the words in 1719.
What tune is it sung to? DUKE STREET, set here in the key of G.
What scripture is it built on? Psalm 72.
Is Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun free to use in church? Yes. The words are public domain, which means any church may sing them, print them in a bulletin, put them on a screen or record them, without asking permission and without paying anyone.
The psalm it came from
Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun is Psalm 72 set to a tune. The psalm itself is here in full — King James, Berean Standard and Reina-Valera side by side, with a note on what it is doing and where it sits in the book.
Themes
Psalms · Christ the King · Mission