O God, Our Help in Ages Past is Isaac Watts's paraphrase of Psalm 90, published in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated. Watts began it Our God, our help in ages past; John Wesley changed it to O God in 1738. It contrasts our short lives with God's eternity, "even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:2), which is why it is often sung at New Year, funerals and national days of remembrance.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), often called the father of English hymnody, grew up in a dissenting family in Southampton, England, at a time when most English churches sang only rhymed versions of the Psalms. Watts thought those versions were clumsy, and he set out to write the Psalms as if David had been a Christian writing in English. The result was The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719). His version of Psalm 90, the oldest psalm, a prayer of Moses, became the most famous of all. In Britain it is sung on Remembrance Sunday and at state occasions; Winston Churchill chose it for the shipboard service with President Roosevelt at the Atlantic Charter meeting in 1941. In many churches it is sung at the watchnight service on New Year's Eve, when the old year ends and the new one begins. The hymn is honest about time. It does not pretend that life is long or that we are in control. It says that God was our help before we were born and will be our home when the years are over, and so the right way to face a new year is to number our days and trust Him. Below are all nine of Watts's stanzas and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
Our God, Our Help in Ages Past: the words
Verse 1
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Verse 2
Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
Verse 3
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
Verse 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.
Verse 5
A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
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,
And lost in following years.
Verse 7
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
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.
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.
Words: Isaac Watts, Psalm 90, first part, Man frail and God eternal, from The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (London, 1719). Text from the 1769 London edition, pages 190-191 (Internet Archive scan), spelling modernized (long s, ev'ning, flow'ry, Ly). Watts marked stanzas 6-8 in brackets as optional, and most hymnals leave them out. John Wesley changed the first word to O in 1738, and that is how most churches sing it. Public domain. Tune: St. Anne, attributed to William Croft (1708).
Our help in ages past, our shelter from the stormy blast
1. Psalms 90:1
"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."
And our eternal home. Psalm 90 is titled A Prayer of Moses the man of God, and it opens: Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Moses led a people who lived in tents for forty years and had no house of their own. Their real home was God Himself. Watts turns dwelling place into eternal home. Whatever changes in the new year, our address in God does not.
2. Psalms 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Our help in ages past. Psalm 46, written for a time of upheaval, says: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The hymn's help in ages past looks back at how God has helped His people through every generation. The psalm adds that He is present help: not only a God of the history books, but the God of today. Looking back at His faithfulness is how we find courage for the year ahead.
3. Psalms 91:1
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
Under the shadow of thy throne thy saints have dwelt secure. Watts borrows the shadow from Psalm 91: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. A shadow is protection from the burning sun, the shade a traveler longs for in the desert. Secure does not mean that nothing bad will happen. It means that those who belong to God are kept by Him through all that happens.
4. Deuteronomy 33:27
"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."
Sufficient is thine arm alone, and our defence is sure. In his last blessing over Israel, Moses said: The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. The picture is of someone falling and being caught from below. Watts's arm alone is the same strength. It is sufficient, enough by itself. We do not need to add our own strength to God's to be safe.
From everlasting Thou art God: a thousand ages in Thy sight
5. Psalms 90:2
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."
Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame, from everlasting thou art God. Watts follows the psalm closely here: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Mountains seem permanent to us, the oldest things we can see. God is older than they are. From everlasting to everlasting means without beginning and without end. To endless years the same: He does not change with the calendar.
6. Psalms 90:3
"Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men."
Thy word commands our flesh to dust, Return, ye sons of men. Watts puts quotation marks around these words in his original printing because he took them straight from the psalm: Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. It recalls Genesis 3:19, dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. The hymn does not shy away from death. It names it, and then sets it beside the God who does not die.
7. Psalms 90:4
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone; short as the watch that ends the night. The psalm says: For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. A watch was a few hours of guard duty in the dark. Yesterday is already gone the moment it is over. To God, a thousand years feel like that. Our lives, which seem so long when we are young, are a moment in His sight.
8. 2 Peter 3:8
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
A thousand ages in thy sight. Peter applies Psalm 90 to people who wondered why Christ had not yet returned: one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. God is not slow; He is patient, giving people time to repent (2 Peter 3:9). As one year ends and another begins, this verse reminds us that God's timing is not ours, and that every new year is another gift of His patience.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream: our hope for years to come
9. Psalms 90:5-6
"Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth."
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away. Watts's most quoted lines come from these verses: Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. The flood and the grass become Watts's ever-rolling stream and his flowery fields under the mower's hand. This is sober, but not hopeless. The stream carries us, but it carries us toward the God who is our home.
10. Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
The flowers beneath the mower's hand lie withering ere 'tis night. Isaiah uses the same image of fading grass, then turns it around: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Everything we build in a year will one day fade. God's word will not. A new year is a good time to build on what lasts: His word, His promises, and the people He has given us to love.
11. Psalms 90:12
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
This is the prayer at the heart of Psalm 90, and the best prayer to carry into a new year: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. To number our days is to remember that they are limited and to use them well. Watts does not quote this verse in his first part, but the whole hymn leads to it. Knowing that time is short is not meant to frighten us. It is meant to make us wise.
12. Psalms 121:7-8
"The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."
Our hope for years to come; be thou our guard while troubles last. The last stanza repeats the first, but changes one line: shelter becomes guard. Psalm 121 makes the same promise for the road ahead: The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. From this time forth is a promise for every new year. Whatever this one holds, the God who helped in ages past will guard us in it.
A short prayer
O God, our help in ages past and our hope for years to come, I thank You for every year You have carried me through. Before the mountains were formed, You were God, and You will be the same when this year and every year are over. Teach me to number my days, so that I may use the time You give me with wisdom. Be my shelter from the stormy blast, my guard while troubles last, and my eternal home. As a new year begins, I put my going out and my coming in into Your hands. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
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Begin the year with the free New Year Scripture plan · Write Psalm 90 by hand with the free January Scripture writing plan · Memorize Psalm 90:12 with Scripture memory cards
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote O God, Our Help in Ages Past?
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), the English pastor and hymn writer, wrote it as a paraphrase of Psalm 90. It was published in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Watts's first line was Our God, our help in ages past; John Wesley changed it to O God in his 1738 Collection of Psalms and Hymns. The tune, St. Anne, is attributed to William Croft and dates from 1708.
Why is O God, Our Help in Ages Past sung at New Year?
Because it is about time and God's eternity. Psalm 90 says that a thousand years are like yesterday to God and asks Him to teach us to number our days. For that reason the hymn has long been sung at watchnight services on New Year's Eve and on the first Sunday of the year, as well as at funerals, Remembrance Sunday in Britain and national days of mourning.
Is O God, Our Help in Ages Past in the public domain?
Yes. Watts's words were published in 1719 and the tune St. Anne in 1708, so the hymn is in the public domain. You may print and share the traditional words freely. A few modern hymnals have updated wording or added stanzas, and those changes may be under copyright.
How many verses does O God, Our Help in Ages Past have?
Watts wrote nine stanzas, all shown above. In his own book he put stanzas 6, 7 and 8 in brackets, meaning they could be left out, and most hymnals today print five or six stanzas. The best-known lines, Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away, come from stanza 7, which many hymnals keep even when they drop the stanzas around it.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: New Year · New Year prayer · Psalm 46 KJV · Psalm 91 meaning · Psalm 121 KJV · Time · Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing · Isaiah 43:19 meaning
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