Sure There's a Righteous God in Tonic Solfa
Sure There's a Righteous God in Tonic Solfa to SOUTHWELL, doh is Ab: the solfa with the words, staff notation, 10 verses and a piano.
The solfa with the words
| l,Sure- | dthere's-da-t,right--t,eous- | l,God,-----dNor- |
| dis-dre--rli--rgion- | mvain,-----mTho'- |
| smen-sof-fvice-fmay- | mboast-ma--rloud,-mAnd- |
| rmen-dof-t,grace-t,com-- | l,plain.----- |
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- Key
- F minor
- Doh
- Ab
- Time
- 4/4
- Starts on
- l, (F)
- Range
- l, to s (F to E♭, a seventh)
- Tune
- SOUTHWELL
- Words
- Isaac Watts
- Music
- From William Daman's Psalter, 1579
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SOUTHWELL (From William Daman's Psalter, 1579); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). Sources and licences.
The solfa line by line
The same solfa as plain text, a line of the hymn at a time, with the words of the first verse under it — easy to copy into your own notes or a message to the choir. To print it, download the solfa as a PDF.
Doh is Ab · 4/4
Staff notation
The melody on the treble staff in F minor, with the first verse under the notes.
The staff is drawn here when you scroll to it.
The words
Sure there's a righteous God,
Nor is religion vain,
Tho' men of vice may boast aloud,
And men of grace complain.
I saw the wicked rise,
And felt my heart repine,
While haughty fools with scornful eyes
In robes of honour shine.
Pamper'd with wanton ease,
Their flesh looks full and fair,
Their wealth rolls in like flowing seas,
And grows without their care.
Free from the plagues and pains
That pious souls endure,
Thro' all their life oppression reigns
And racks the humble poor.
Their impious tongues blaspheme
The everlasting God;
Their malice blasts the good man's name,
And spreads their lies abroad.
But I with flowing tears
Indulge my doubts to rise
"Is there a God that sees or hears
"The things below the skies?"
The tumults of my thought
Held me in hard suspense,
Till to thy house my feet were brought
To learn thy justice thence.
Thy word with light and power
Did my mistakes attend;
I view'd the sinners' life before,
But here I learnt their end.
On what a slippery steep
The thoughtless wretches go;
And O that dreadful fiery deep
That waits their fall below.
Lord, at thy feet I bow,
My thoughts no more repine;
I call my God my portion now,
And all my powers are thine.
How to sing it from the solfa
- Find doh first. Play or hum Ab and sing d r m f s up from it, so the whole choir has the key in their ears before you start.
- Pitch the first note. The tune starts on l, (F), on the word “Sure”, as a pickup before the first full bar.
- Count the time. 4/4 means four crotchet beats in each bar. In the grid every cell is half a crotchet: a dash (–) holds the note before it, and _ is a rest.
- Know the notes. The tune uses d r m f s l t. A comma after a note (s,) is the octave below; an apostrophe (d') is the octave above.
New to solfa? Read how to read Tonic Solfa and how to find the doh of a song.
About the hymn
Isaac Watts wrote these words for The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719): Psalm 73, part 4, headed “The mystery of providence unfolded”.
Watts' psalms were printed without tunes and sung to any tune of their metre, Short Metre (6.6.8.6). This page sets the words to SOUTHWELL; any other Short Metre tune fits them as well.
- Words (1719): Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
- Melody (1579): From William Daman's Psalter, 1579
Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain), edited by Brian J. Dumont; tune SOUTHWELL (From William Daman's Psalter, 1579); words by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). The Open Hymnal Project publishes this tune as public domain; NoteFusion's engine wrote the solfa from its notes. The melody has not yet been checked against a printed hymn book.
Sung to the same tune: Along My Earthly Way, And Must This Body Die, Arise, My Gracious God, At the Creation's Birth, Behold Th' Amazing Sight, Behold the Morning Sun, Behold the Sun, How Bright, Blest Are the Sons of Peace, Children of Light, Awake, Come to the House of Prayer, Come, Kingdom of Our God, Come, Ye Who Love the Lord, Destruction's Dangerous Road, Far as Thy Name Is Known, Father, in Whom We Live, Firm and Unmov'd Are They, From Early Dawning Light, Good Is the Heavenly King, Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound, Great Is the Lord Our God, Here, in the Broken Bread, How Gentle God's Commands, How Honored Is the Place, In Darkness as in Light, It Is a Comely Thing, Jerusalem, Rejoice, Jesus, My Truth, My Way, Let All Our Tongues Be One, Let God the Father Live, Let Hearts and Tongues Unite, Lord Jesus Think on Me, Lord of the Harvest, Hear, My God, My Life, My Love, My God, Permit My Tongue, My Spirit on Thy Care, O Lord, How Vile Am I, O Spirit, Freed from Earth, O, Where Shall Rest Be Found, Our Heavenly Father, Hear, Religion Can Assuage, Stand Up and Bless the Lord, The God Jehovah Reigns, The Law by Moses Came, The Time Is Drawing Near, The Word of Christ, Our Lord, Thou Seest My Feebleness, To Christ Th' Anointed King, To Thee, O God in Heaven, We Give Thee but Thine Own.
Questions about Sure There's a Righteous God
What is the doh of Sure There's a Righteous God?
In this version, in F minor, doh is Ab. If your choir sings it in another key, doh moves to the new key note and every solfa syllable stays the same — that is what movable doh means.
What note does Sure There's a Righteous God start on?
It starts on l, (F in F minor), a pickup on the word “Sure” before the first full bar. Find doh first, then sing up or down to l,.
Is Sure There's a Righteous God in the public domain?
Yes. Isaac Watts died in 1748; the words were first published in 1719 and the music in 1579. Everyone named died before 1955 and both were published before 1929, so the hymn is out of copyright in the UK, the EU, the United States and Nigeria. Modern arrangements and translations can still be under copyright.