O God, Our Help in Ages Past

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 throneThy saints have dwelt secure;Sufficient is thine arm alone,And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,Or earth receiv’d 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.

A thousand ages in thy sightAre like an evening gone;Short as the watch that ends the nightBefore the rising sun.

[The busy tribes of flesh and blood,With all their lives and cares,Are carried downwards by thy flood,And lost in following years.

Time like an ever-rolling streamBears all its Sons away;They fly forgotten as a dreamDies at the opening day.

Like flowery fields the nations standPleas’d with the morning light;The flowers beneath the mower’s handLie withering ere ’tis night.]

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