Hymns are beautiful truths poetically told, hung on a rhythm, and held in a melody. This makes them memorable. Hymn study is extremely simple. Sing the hymn once a day. We’ve provided you links to different versions of “O God Our Help in Ages Past” to enjoy as well as a link to download the sheet music for the hymn. Some of this year’s selections are very familiar and others are a little more obscure. In keeping with our theme of Ancients, these hymns are older written before 1700.
Hymn Story:
Isaac Watts composed O God Our Help In Ages Past as a hymn for All Saints Day in 1708. His text is based on Psalm 90. Watts is known as the Father of English Hymnody because he was the first composer of hymns who moved away from singing strict metrical versions of the psalms. He used the psalms for a basis for worship but used language that moved away from the King James Version of Psalms and toward the popular language of the day.
Source: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-o-god-our-help-in-ages-past1
Hymn
1 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:
2 Under the shadow of your throne
your saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is your arm alone,
and our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting you are God,
to endless years the same.
4 A thousand ages in your sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
soon bears us all away;
we fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.
6 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home!
Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #820
