Monday, March 27

Peter DuBois
Director of Music/Organist

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Isaac Watts, 1719

This is perhaps the most well known of Isaac Watts’ paraphrases of the psalms. In this hymn, he paraphrased Psalm 90, which both affirms God’s help and shelter for uncounted years before us, but also the hope of God’s presence with us in the future and for eternity. An interesting variation on the first phrase appeared some years after it was first written when John Wesley, in 1738, changed the first phrase in his Psalms and Hymns to “O God, our help in ages past,” which changes the hymn into more of a prayer or a petition for God’s help – and it has appeared in numerous modern hymnals in this way. Of course, in either form, it is a strong statement of faith that has sustained countless generations since it was first penned in the 18th century.

O God, our God, thank you for the sustaining gifts of faith passed on to us from generations past, and strengthen us to fulfill our role in passing on the faith to generations to come. Amen.