1. O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home! 2. Under the shadow of Thy throne, Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure. 3. Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame, From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same. 4. A thousand ages in Thy sight Are like an evening gone; Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun. 5. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the op'ning day. 6. O God our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be Thou our guard while life shall last, And our eternal home.
Lyrics:
Isaac Watts
Music: Possibly William Croft
Tune: ST. ANNE
Meter: C.M.
Isaac Watts, 1674–1748
This hymn, a paraphrase of Psalm 90, is considered by many to be one of the finest ever written and perhaps the best known of the 600 hymns by Isaac Watts, often called the “father of English hymnody.”
At an early age Isaac displayed unusual talent in writing poetic verse. As a young man he became increasingly concerned with the congregational singing in the English speaking churches. Only ponderous metrical psalms were used until this time. To use any words other than the actual words of Scripture would have been considered an insult to God.
Challenged by his father to “write something better for us to sing,” young Watts began to create new versions of the psalms with inspiring and expressive style. Eventually, at the early age of twenty-five, he published an important hymnal titled The Psalms of David in the Language of the New Testament. In addition to “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” several of Watts’ other paraphrases based on psalm settings are hymn texts still widely sung today. They include such favorites as “Joy to the World” (Psalm 98) and “Jesus Shall Reign” (Psalm 72).