O God Our Help in Ages Past - Hymn Story

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The hymn O God, Our Help in Ages Past was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. Just prior to that,  England's people were anxious as their Queen Anne lay dying and had no heirs. Change was inevitable and uncertain. Isacc's father had been imprisoned and a new monarch could mean a longer prison stay. 

Isaac turned to Psalm 90-----

Psalm 90:1-2
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

.....and was led by the Lord to pen this timeless hymn. Here are a couple verses from it:


O God, our help in ages past, 
our hope for years to come, 
our shelter from the stormy blast, 
and our eternal home: 

O God, our help in ages past, 
our hope for years to come:
O be our guard while troubles last, 
and our eternal home.
I tend to think Mr. Watts would have had no idea people would still be comforted today, some 300 years later by the words he wrote. God helped people then, God helps people now. Of that we can be sure.

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.....

This hymn was played for President Franklin Roosevelt at the request of British leader Winston Churchill, when the two met in 1941 on board the HMS Prince of Wales to create the Atlantic Charter. It was also sung at Churchill's 1965 funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral, London.





Here's a link to more about Mr. Watt's life and a list of some 800+ hymns he wrote. You'll find this hymn at number 568 in this alphabetical list.
Hymn Page Isaac Watts

You can find all the lyrics to this hymn here: hymn lyrics

Sources for this information:
hymntime.com
hymnary.org
The One Year Book of Hymns, published by Tyndale



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