Our God, our Help in Ages past

Isaac Watts

Our 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 receiv’d her Frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
  To endless Years the same.

Thy Word commands our Flesh to Dust,
  Return, ye Sons of Men:
All Nations rose from Earth at first,
  And turn to Earth again.

A thousand Ages in thy Sight
  Are like an Evening gone;
Short as the Watch that ends the Night
  Before the rising Sun.

[The busy Tribes of Flesh and Blood,
  With all their Lives and Cares
Are carried downwards by thy Flood,
  And lost in following Years.

Time like an ever-rolling Stream,
  Bears all its Sons away;
They fly forgotten as a Dream
  Dies at the opening Day.

Like flow’ry Fields the Nations stand,
  Pleas’d with the Morning-light;
The Flowers beneath the Mower’s Hand
  Ly withering e’er ’tis Night.]

Our God, our Help in Ages past,
  Our Hope for Years to come,
Be thou our Guard while Troubles last,
  And our eternal Home.

Fonte (estrofe 1): Carpeaux, O. M. 2011. História da literatura ocidental, vol. 2. Brasília, Senado Federal. Poema (hino) publicado em livro em 1719. Para fins de uso em cultos, os colchetes indicam estrofes (6-8) opcionais.