O God, Our Help in Ages Past
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| O God, Our Help in Ages Past | |
| Stylistic origins |
Traditional Hymn-Psalm
|
|---|---|
| Cultural origins |
English Hymn
|
| Typical instruments | |
O God, Our Help in Ages Past is a hymn by Isaac Watts and paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five and nine. In 1738, John Wesley in his hymnal, Psalms and Hymns, changed the first line of the text from "Our God" to "O God."
The hymn was originally part of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, published by Watts in 1719. In this book he paraphrased in Christian verse the entire psalter with the exception of twelve Psalms which he felt were unsuited for Christian usage.
The hymn is often sung at festive occasions in England.
The hymn tune "St. Anne" (Common Meter 86.86) to which the text is most often sung was composed by William Croft in 1708. It first appeared anonymously in the Supplement to the New Version of the Psalms, 6th edition in 1708. It was originally intended to be used with a version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime later when set to Watt's text that the tune gained recognition.
Later composers subsequently incorporated the tune in their own works. For example, George Handel used the tune in an anthem entitled, "O Praise the Lord". J. S. Bach's Fugue in E-flat major BWV 552 is often called the "St. Anne", due to the similarity of its subject to the first line of the hymn tune.
[edit] Lyrics
O[1] God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
- Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
- Return, ye sons of men:
- All nations rose from earth at first,
- And turn to earth again.[2]
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
- The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
- With all their lives and cares,
- Are carried downwards by the flood,
- And lost in following years.[3]
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
- Like flowery fields the nations stand
- Pleased with the morning light;
- The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
- Lie withering ere ‘tis night.[4]
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
[edit] References
- ^ Cyberhymnal.org gives Our God, our help in ages past,
- ^ Verse omitted from both Hymns Ancient and Modern 1906 and Hymns Old and New 1996
- ^ Ditto
- ^ Ditto
