Our God, our help in ages past

Quote byIsaac Watts · 1674–1748

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "Our God, our help in ages past" (1719), Psalm 90 st. 1..

English (original)

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

Lord, I ascribe it to thy grace, And not to chance as others do, That I was born of Christian race, And not a Heathen, or a Jew.

Whene'er I take my walks abroad, How many poor I see! What shall I render to my God For all his gifts to me?

I would not change my native land For rich Peru with all her gold. A nobler prize lies in my hand Than East or Western Indies hold.

Were I so tall to reach the pole, Or grasp the ocean with my span, I must be measured by my soul; The mind's the standard of the man.

There's not a place where we can flee, But God is present there.

Just as a tree cut down, that fell To north, or southward, there it lies: So man departs to heaven or hell, Fix'd in the state wherein he dies.