O God our Help in Ages Past

I love many of the modern worship songs. We sing them each week in our church. I also love ‘old hymns’… like this Isaac Watts hymn written in 1708. It’s a paraphrase of Psalm 90, that, together with a few friends, we were thinking about last week.

O 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 throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

I need to be reminded that God is totally reliable. The God of my parents, and previous generations that I didn’t know, is there, constant, consistent. My security doesn’t come from my talents, character or achievements – what I have or what I can do. It’s not dependent on my successes or failures. God is enough.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

An ‘Everlasting God’ is easily said, easily overlooked. This God, present before the hills, the sunrise, bigger than our human dimensions of space and time, was, is and will be. I pause. It’s not about how I think or feel. It’s not about the state of the world or the state of my world. It’s not about questions I can’t answer. It’s God.  

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.

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

Having a glimpse of this great God, I see my life in perspective. I’m a frail, fragile man, increasingly aware of my mortality. My brief life will soon be over. Troubles continue – across the world and close to home. I don’t have the answers. I trust in the God who has been my help in my past, and is my hope in my future.