Salvation, O the joyful sound

Below is Hymn 88 from Hymns and Spiritual Songs In Three Books, by Isaac Watts, which he titled simply “Salvation.”

To the believer, the word “salvation” is pleasing music to our ears, healing ointment for our wounds, and stimulating medicine for our fears. May we who have arisen by and appreciate grace divine echo its sound around the earth. In The Sacred Harp (47a) we sing this hymn with the wonderful old tune Primrose, by Amzi Chapin.

1. Salvation! O the joyful sound!
’Tis music to our ears;*
A sov’reign balm for ev’ry wound,
A cordial for our fears.

2. Buried in sorrow and in sin,
At hell’s dark door we lay,
But we arise by grace divine
To see a heav’nly day.

3. Salvation! let the echo fly
The spacious earth around,
While all the armies of the sky
Conspire to raise the sound.

* “pleasure” in The Sacred Harp

The author of the hymn, Isaac Watts, is called the “Father of English hymnody,” so accorded for his vast production of good and great hymns, which solidified their places in English language churches.

Amzi Chapin, the composer of Primrose, was born March 2, 1768 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Edward Chapin and Eunice Colton. By trade he was a cabinetmaker, but he was also an itinerant singing master and composer, teaching singing schools in Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. By denomination he was a Presbyterian. He married Hannah Power in 1800, and they had at least seven children. Amzi Chapin died in Northfield, Ohio, February 19, 1835. He and Hannah are buried at the Northfield Macedonia Cemetery in Northfield, Summit County, Ohio.

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Note: a cordial is a food, drink, or medicine that stimulates and invigorates the heart and circulation – either literally or figuratively.

Cordial (adjective and noun)

c. 1400, “of or pertaining to the heart,” from Medieval Latin cordialis “of or for the heart,” from Latin cor “heart,” from PIE root *kerd- “heart.” Meaning “heartfelt, proceeding from the heart as the supposed seat of kindly feelings” is from mid-15c.

The noun meaning “something that invigorates” is from late 14c., originally “medicine, food, or drink that stimulates the heart.” Meaning “sweet or aromatic liquor” is from 1610s.