1139 C.M. Isaac Watts
Man Frail, God Eternal. Ps. 90. 1-5
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 thy throne
 
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
 
And our defence is sure.
3
Before the hills in order stood,
 
Or earth received her frame –
 
From everlasting thou art God,
 
To endless years the same.
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.]
5
A thousand ages in thy sight
 
Are like an evening gone;
 
Short as the watch that ends the night,
 
Before the rising sun.
6
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
 
Bears all its sons away;
 
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
 
Dies at the opening day.
7
O God, our Help in ages past,
 
Our Hope for years to come,
 
Be thou our Guard while life shall last,
 
And our eternal Home.