O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Verse 1
Our God, our help in ag­es past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shel­ter from the stor­my blast, (Isa. 25:4)
And our eter­nal home. (Ps. 90:1)

Verse 2
Under the sha­dow of Thy throne (Ps. 91:1)
Thy saints have dwelt se­cure; (Ps. 90:1)
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our de­fense is sure.

Verse 3
Before the hills in or­der stood, (Ps. 90:2)
Or earth re­ceived her frame, (Ps. 90:2)
From ev­er­last­ing Thou art God, (Ps. 90:2)
To end­less years the same. (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8)

Verse 4
Thy Word com­mands our flesh to dust, (Gen. 3:19, Ecc. 3:20, Ecc. 12:7)
Return, ye sons of men: (Ps. 90:3)
All na­tions rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

Verse 5
A thou­sand ag­es in Thy sight
Are like an ev­en­ing gone; (Ps. 90:4, II Pet. 3:8)
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the ris­ing sun.

Verse 6
The bu­sy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are car­ried down­wards by the flood, (Ps. 90:5)
And lost in fol­low­ing years.

Verse 7
Time, like an ev­er roll­ing stream,
Bears all its sons away; (Ps. 90:5, Ps. 90:9-10)
They fly, for­got­ten, as a dream
Dies at the op­en­ing day.

Verse 8
Like flow­ery fields the na­tions stand
Pleased with the morn­ing light;
The flow­ers be­neath the mow­er’s hand
Lie wi­ther­ing ere ‘tis night. (Ps. 90:5-6, Job 14:1-2, Ps. 103:15-16, I Pet. 1:24)

Verse 9
Our God, our help in ag­es past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while trou­bles last,
And our eter­nal home.