“Our God, our help in ages past”

Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

OUR 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.

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.

Our God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guard while troubles last,

And our eternal home.