O God, Our Help in Ages Past

O God, Our help in ages past…. our hope for years to come…

All I have to do is hear those first few words and in my mind I’m belting out the words in my slightly off-key voice. Sitting here the thought makes me smile. I think perhaps this was Mr. Watts goal. Create simple tunes that help people long-term learn about the God they worship.

Lyrics

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:

Benearth the shadow of thy throne,
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guide while troubles last,
And our eternal home!

Author and History

Isaac Watts was a prolific songwriter who was born in Southampton, England. A congregation minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician.

He once bemoaned the state of spiritual singing in church saying : “To see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of a whole assembly, while the psalm is upon their lips, might even tempt a charitable observer to suspect the fervency of their inward religion.” He very much wanted people to pay attention to the words they lifted up in praise to God, ergo he wrote hymns. Mr. Watts wrote some 750 hymns, in language that the common man could easily sing.

In 1703 he began suffering from a psychiatric illness which caused him to depend more and more upon his assistant when he was pastoring at London’s Mark Lane Independent Chapel. He needed to resign in 1712.

Other Isaac Watts Songs:

Thinking Deeper

So… do you see how God is your help and hope?

I was talking with my mom the other day about how I have learned to trust God more deeply. By seeing how his word has been lived out in the people in my life, the changes he wrought in them, to enable them to be people of God he has called them to be. This, in me, builds trust. It’s what God’s word does as well doesn’t it?

Shows us God in action in the lives of people. Shows how people can depend on God, and how God provides for his own throughout the years.

So how have you seen God’s help in your life? What have you experienced that helps you to dwell securely in him? In what ways have you been aware of his guiding hand?

If you aren’t aware and would like to talk… I’m always happy to talk about the things of God with folk.