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

These lines open Isaac Watts’s metrical paraphrase of Psalm 90, a psalm traditionally attributed to Moses and centered on God’s eternity and humanity’s transience. Watts (1674–1748), a leading English Nonconformist hymn writer, published the hymn in his influential collection that recast the Psalms in Christian devotional language for congregational singing. The stanza became especially prominent in later English-speaking Protestant worship, often used at public commemorations and funerals because it frames human vulnerability (“stormy blast”) against God’s enduring protection and faithfulness across generations (“ages past…years to come”).

The stanza compresses a theology of time and refuge into four balanced lines. God is addressed as both retrospective support (“help in ages past”) and forward-looking assurance (“hope for years to come”), suggesting continuity of divine care across history and personal life. The “stormy blast” evokes the hazards and instability of mortal existence—suffering, upheaval, and death—while “our eternal home” shifts the image from temporary shelter to ultimate belonging. The effect is to relocate security from circumstances to God’s permanence, making the hymn a meditation on trust, mortality, and the longing for a final, lasting dwelling beyond life’s storms.

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.

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

1) “O God, our help in ages past, / Our hope for years to come, / Be Thou our guard while troubles last, / And our eternal home.”
2) “O God, our help in ages past, / Our hope for years to come, / Our shelter from the stormy blast, / And our eternal home.” (common modern hymnals; “O” sometimes printed as “Our” in error)
3) “O God, our help in ages past, / Our hope for years to come, / Our shelter from the stormy blast, / And our eternal home.” (often sung to the tune ST ANNE; text unchanged but frequently paired with that tune)