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Lyrics : Isaac Watts
Music: William Croft
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lyrics
1.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
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.
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.
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
4.
Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men”:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.
“Return, ye sons of men”:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.
5.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
6.
The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in foll’wing years.
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in foll’wing years.
7.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
8.
Like flow’ry fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.
Pleased with the morning light;
The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.
9.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts
www.hymntime.com/tch
Short Name: Isaac Watts
Full Name: Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748
Birth Year: 1674
Death Year: 1748
Isaac Watts was
the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is
said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of
Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven.
At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev.
Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of
the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712,
he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney
Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder
of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the
prosecution of his literary labours. He did not retire from ministerial duties,
but preached as often as his delicate health would permit.
The number of
Watts' publications is very large. His collected works, first published in
1720, embrace sermons, treatises, poems and hymns. His "Horae
Lyricae" was published in December, 1705. His "Hymns" appeared
in July, 1707. The first hymn he is said to have composed for religious
worship, is "Behold the glories of the Lamb," written at the age of
twenty. It is as a writer of psalms and hymns that he is everywhere known. Some
of his hymns were written to be sung after his sermons, giving expression to
the meaning of the text upon which he had preached. Montgomery calls Watts
"the greatest name among hymn-writers," and the honour can hardly be
disputed. His published hymns number more than eight hundred.
Watts died
November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields. A monumental statue was
erected in Southampton, his native place, and there is also a monument to his
memory in the South Choir of Westminster Abbey. "Happy," says the
great contemporary champion of Anglican orthodoxy, "will be that reader
whose mind is disposed, by his verses or his prose, to imitate him in all but
his non-conformity, to copy his benevolence to men, and his reverence to God."
("Memorials of Westminster Abbey," p. 325.)
The Story Behind O
God, Our Help in Ages Past
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 rephrased in Christian verse the entire
psaltery with the exclusion of twelve Psalms which he thought were
inappropriate for Christian practice.
The hymn melody "St. Anne" to
which the lyrics are most frequently sung was produced by William Croft in 1708
while he was the organist of the church of St Anne: giving the name of the
melody. It first emerged anonymously in the Supplement to the New
Version of the Psalms in 1708. It was first meant to be used with a
version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime following when matched with
Watts' text that the melody earned significant recognition.
In 1738, John Wesley in his
hymnal, Psalms, and Hymns, altered the first line of the text from "Our
God" to "O God." Both Watts' wording and Wesley's rewording
remain in modern usage.
"Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" is a hymn by Isaac Watts in 1708 that paraphrases the 90th Psalm of the Book of Psalms. It originally consisted of nine stanzas; however, in
present usage the fourth, sixth, and eighth stanzas are commonly omitted to
leave a total of six (Methodist books also include the original sixth stanza to
leave a total of seven). In 1738, John Wesley in his hymnal, Psalms and Hymns, changed the first line of the text from "Our God"
to "O God." Both Watts' wording and Wesley's rewording remain in
current use.
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 as part of the remembrance day service in Canada and
festive occasions in England.
The hymn tune "St.
Anne" (common metre 86.86)
to which the text is most often sung was composed by William Croft in 1708 whilst he was the
organist of St Anne's Church,
Soho: hence the name of the tune. 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 Watts' text that the tune gained recognition.
William Croft as a choirboy, circa 1690. National
Portrait Gallery, London.
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" in the English-speaking world, because
of the similarity of its subject to the first line of the hymn tune, though
there is some debate as to whether Bach used the actual tune after hearing it,
or coincidentally created himself the very similar tune used as the fugual
theme. Young Bach's inspirator and mentor Dieterich Buxtehude,
church administrator and organist of St Mary's in Lübeck in north Germany, used the same first
line of the hymn tune as theme for the (first) fugue of his
Praeludium-pedaliter in E-major for organ.
Arthur Sullivan uses
the tune in the first and last sections of his Festival Te Deum, first in a relatively
standard setting, but eventually pairing it with a military march
accompaniment. The American composer Carl Ruggles (1876–1971) used the text in
his last composition, "Exaltation" (for Brass, Chorus, and Organ) in
1958, in memory of his wife Charlotte who had died the previous year. The hymn
and words are also featured in Vaughan Williams's anthem "Lord, thou
hast been our refuge", using both the Book of Common Prayer's
words and those of Watts. Brother
Colin Smith also arranged a setting of this hymn.
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