O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Psalm 90 in verse: God has been our shelter in every age and is our hope for what is ahead.
The words are public domain. We print a hymn only after checking it word for word against a dated old printing, and this one hasn’t been checked yet. Hymnary has it now.
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past” at HymnaryAbout this hymn
This hymn says that God has been the shelter of his people in every generation and will be their home forever. Human lives pass quickly, like a dream or a stream flowing away, but God does not change.
It is a paraphrase of Psalm 90. The God the psalm trusts is the God who makes his home with us in Jesus, who promised to be with his people always.
It is sung at any time, often at New Year, on All Saints Sunday and at funerals. Isaac Watts published it in 1719.
For musicians and planners
| Words | Isaac Watts, 1719 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Tune | ST. ANNE · William Croft, 1708 | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against hymnary.org text, tune and person pages (attribution and rights only). The words are not transcribed here yet.
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.