In our current green hymnbook, Isaac Watts wrote the words of Hymn 46, “O God our help in ages past,” and the words of sixteen other hymns. Watts was born at Southampton, England on July 17, 1674 and died at Stoke Newington, England on November 25, 1748 at the age of 74. He was a brilliant child who loved books from an early age. His genius included learning many languages including Latin, Greek, French and Hebrew by the age thirteen. He loved rhyme and verse and wrote or spoke in both.
After graduation from college at age nineteen he returned to his birth town of Southampton, England. Watts was in Southampton for two years and this was the largest hymn-writing period in his life.
While in Southampton Watts complained to his father about the dismal singing in his church. The singing at that time is described as “…often distressing. Since there were only a few hymnals in most churches, the Psalm-versions were read out, one line at a time, by a ‘clerk’. The people sang that line and then waited for the next. Only a few hymn-tunes were used, as the clerk had to choose those that everyone knew, and they were droned out to a tedious length.”1His father challenged him to write a hymn. Watts took up the challenge and by the time of his death he had written approximately six hundred hymns.
Watts spent a substantial amount of time on a project to adopt the book of Psalms for Christian worship. In 1719 The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament was published. In this publication Watts worked through the 150 Psalms, paraphrasing most of them. He integrated teachings from the New Testament into the hymn words. Watts described his creative objective in this way.
“Where the Psalmist describes religion by the fear of God, I have often joined faith and love to it. Where he speaks of the pardon of sin through the mercies of God, I have added the merits of a Savior. Where he talks of sacrificing goats or bullocks, I rather choose to mention the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God. Where He promises abundance of wealth, honor, and long life, I have changed some of these typical blessings for grace, glory, and life eternal, which are brought to light by the gospel, and promised in the New Testament.”2
Watts lived during a period in religious history where the only songs thought suitable for worship in many of the branches of the Reformed Church, were versions of the Psalms. Watts belonged to this type of church. He was a dissenter, who were Christians that separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. They opposed government interference in the matters of religion, and established their own churches, educational establishments and communities. Psalms were thought suitable for worship because they were taken directly from the Bible and were God’s words. “Hymns of ‘human composure,’ not taken from the Psalms, were said to be very wrong. The would-be hymn writer was called ‘conceited’ and ‘vain’; a man who thought he could improve on God…”3
The words of Hymn 46, “O God, our help in ages past” are based on Psalm 90:1 to 7. Following is a comparison of the thoughts in Psalm 90 and how Watts expresses the words of Moses, in this Psalm, in his own words.
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” (Psalm 90:1 NIV).
In verses one and two of Hymn 46 Watts writes, “O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come. Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home. Beneath the shadow of Thy Throne Thy saints have dwelt secure; Sufficient is Thine arm alone, And our defense is sure.”
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psa 90:2).
Watts writes in verse three of Hymn 46, “Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame, From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same.”
“You turn men back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, O sons of men.’ For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning” (Psa 90:3,4,5).
In verses four and five of Hymn 46 Watts expresses these ideas in the words, “A thousand ages in Thy sight, Are like an evening gone; Short as the watch that ends the night, Before the rising sun. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly forgotten, as a dream, Dies at the opening day.”
Truth is expressed in this verse. Time does roll on and over time human life ceases. The cares and fears that fill the human mind are then gone. In all of our weaknesses and in the mortality of our lives, and in all the changes we experience where we learn that the help of human beings is fleeting, one can call on God who has been “…our help in ages past” and is “our hope for years to come.” In our helplessness we can rely on Him who is “…our guard while troubles last,” and eventually will be, by His blessing, “our eternal home”.
This hymn was published in 1719. It is often used as a New Year’s hymn and as we considered the lyrics they are very appropriate for singing at the beginning of a new year.
Watts wrote the words on which are based 17 of the hymns in the Christadelphian Green Hymnbook. They are numbers 11, 19, 46, 47, 101, 199, 184, 223, 243, 278, 293, 299, 304, 306, 374, 392, and 396. Lyrics for nine of these hymns are based on the Biblical Psalms.
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