O God Our Help In Ages Past

O God, Our Help in Ages Past is a hymn by Isaac Watts and paraphrases Psalm 90. It originally consisted of nine stanzas. In present usage, however, the hymn is usually limited to stanzas one, two, three, five and nine. In 1738, John Wesley in his hymnal, Psalms and Hymns, changed the first line of the text from "Our God" to "O God."

The hymn was originally part of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, published by Watts in 1719. In this book he paraphrased in Christian verse the entire psalter with the exception of twelve Psalms which he felt were unsuited for Christian usage.

The hymn is often sung at festive occasions in England.

The hymn tune "St. Anne" to which the text is most often sung was composed by William Croft in 1708. It first appeared anonymously in the Supplement to the New Version of the Psalms, 6th edition in 1708. It was originally intended to be used with a version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime later when set to Watt's text that the tune gained recognition.

Later composers subsequently incorporated the tune in their own works. For example, George Handel used the tune in an anthem entitled, "O Praise the Lord", while J. S. Bach used it as the basis of his Fugue in E-flat major, often called the "St. Anne".

Category:

Music

Tags:

• help
• ages
• past
• hymn
• god
• religious
• christian
• traditional
• inspirational
• qvt
• howden
• choir
• church
• english
• tvnorth

[benaggreyfynn]

Faith, Hope and Charity are the three stems of Love. Lord teach us to love one another as You have loved us so that we may live always in yor light, in your peace and in your grace.Amen

[labaskie]

time like an ever-rolling stream, will bear us all away.they fly forgotten as a dream, die at the opening day..

[atrain1957]

Great video accompanying my favorite hymn. There'll alway be an England! Thanks for posting.

[Londonfogey]

@iamaprincesssowhat

My pleasure. I think you may have got this hymn mixed up with 'Eternal Father Strong to Save' (the official hymn of the Royal and US Navies) which we know was sung at a church service on board RMS Titanic. It is not certain that 'Nearer My God To Thee' was played by the band as the ship actually sank, but some witnesses claimed it was.

[nauort23]

@augustustoplady1 No, but I daresay some could sing it better.

[augustustoplady1]

No papist dog has ever written such a fine song in praise of Yahweh.

[iamaprincesssowhat]

It Is Beautiful Londonfoggy Thanks For Posting This

[Londonfogey]

@iamaprincesssowhat

The hymn sung as the Titanic sunk was, supposedly, 'Nearer My God To Thee', not this one.

[Londonfogey]

@iamaprincesssowhat

The hymn sung as the Titanic sung was, supposedly, 'Nearer My God To Thee', not this one.

[mkl62]

I am an ELCA Lutheran from South Carolina. I play the piano and organ. Today (November 14), I played this for Sunday School assembly. I did so because our Sunday School lesson was Psalm 90, which was the inspiration for this beloved hymn.

[iamaprincesssowhat]

This Was The Last Hymn Sang In A Church Service Just Before Titanic Sank

[ELBoxxerDave]

This hymn is very contemplative. It makes you stop and take God in silence for his Goodness.