Our God, Our Help in Ages Past

Turbid times continually characterize the passing of history. The turbulence and turmoil seemingly erode the very ground upon which the church stands. In the politically revolutionary words of Karl Marx, “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.” As we look out upon our current political landscape, we might easily think that Marx’s words apply to our situation. We live in a time of mayhem: politics looks more like a knife-fight in a coat closet than the calm and reasoned affair it has been in decades past. Christians understandably take a step back and want to avoid the fracas: “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears” (Prov. 26:17). But on the other hand, the issues that politicians debate and legislate often have a direct bearing upon the lives of Christians. In view of these challenges, how might we respond? Looking to the past gives us a window where we can learn from our forebears how to answer this question. In short, we can learn to look to God’s unfailing promises in Christ during times of trial and turmoil. Christ is our firm foundation amid the fury and fire. 

 In 1558 the Act of Supremacy was passed by the English Parliament to guarantee the independence of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, a move begun under Henry VIII. In the years after the Act of Supremacy, England had Protestant monarchs including, Elizabeth I, James I and VI of Scotland, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell under the interregnum, and Charles II. After Charles II, his son James II and VII of Scotland ruled, but he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1670, though his two daughters were raised as Protestants. James was unpopular with the people because he persecuted Protestants and so Parliament enlisted the Dutch prince, William of Orange, to assume the throne; he married Mary, James II’s Protestant daughter. William and Mary ruled jointly until their daughter, Anne assumed the throne. She was a committed Protestant. In a letter to her sister, she wrote: “I must tell you that I abhor the principles of the Church of Rome as much as it is possible for any to do . . . for the doctrine of the Church of Rome is wicked and dangerous, and directly contrary to the Scriptures, and their ceremonies—most of them—plain, downright idolatry.” But Anne was plagued by poor health and suffered many miscarriages, which created fears in the hearts of many that when she died her Protestant faith would die with her and the throne would revert to a Roman Catholic monarch. Parliament, however, had created the Act of Settlement in 1701 just before Anne ascended the throne to ensure that the monarchy would remain Protestant; it forbade any Roman Catholic from assuming the throne. When Anne died in 1714, the potential Roman Catholic claimants were ignored, and George, the Elector of Hanover, succeeded Anne pursuant to the Act of Settlement. To say the least, these were chaotic times, and this brief report does not tell the granular story of great fears, anxieties, and concerns people had about preserving the monarchy and the unity of the British Isles. Nevertheless, how did Christians in England weather these political storms? 

In 1708 the well-known hymn writer Isaac Watts composed a hymn during these difficult times based upon the words of Psalm 90:1-5, 

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O sons of Adam!’ For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning (ESV, trans. alt.) 

Watts paraphrased these words with the familiar verses: 

O God, our help in ages past, 

Our hope for years to come, 

Our shelter from the stormy blast, 

And our eternal home. 

Watts published his hymn in 1719 and it became such a fixture in English culture that the BBC played it over the radio when England declared war against Germany in World War II, and it was later sung at the funeral of Winston Churchill. Given the turmoil surrounding Queen Anne’s succession, the trying days of World War II, and the passing of a great leader such as Churchill, the words of the hymn’s fifth stanza are especially relevant: 

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, 

Bears all its sons away; 

They fly forgotten, as a dream 

Dies at the opening day. 

Psalm 90 and Watts’s paraphrase present a vital truth for Christians amid times of trial, namely, history marches on but there is one constant in life, God’s faithfulness. With our limited point of view and the power of our eyes, what we see can easily sway our opinions, shape our affections, and alter our hopes. If we see political disorder like the succession fears in eighteenth-century England or our nation’s current election cycle, we can all too easily lose sight of the throne of God. 

We must remember that Psalm 90, and thus Watts’s paraphrase, rests in the cradle of the Psalter, and Psalm 2 sets the trajectory for the whole book: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed” (Psa. 2:2). But God “sits in the heavens and laughs” (Psa. 2:4) because he has set his “King on Zion,” his “holy hill” (Psa. 2:6). Not even the religious leaders and their wicked plot to assassinate Christ prevented God’s plans, foiled his faithfulness, or diluted his decree. As Peter told the gathered crowds at Pentecost, “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Are we therefore swayed by the ebb and flow of the political tides? Do changes in power produce periods of panic? Do we wring our hands in horror? If we look with the eyes of faith to Christ’s throne as he rules amid his enemies (Psa. 110:1), he will give us great peace. For all who hear the words of Christ will rest firmly on the rock of Christ. The rains will fall, the floods will come, the winds will blow, but we will be unmoved because we rest firmly upon Christ (Matt. 7:24-27). God’s promises in Christ in the past remind us of the firm ground upon which we stand in the present and assures of his faithfulness to us in the future. “O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.”