The famous Isaac Watts Hymn, written in 1708 O God our help in Ages Past has always been one of my favorite New Years Hymns. Based on Psalm 90, it recounts how our God has been with us through any trouble of this life, and how He will be with us forevermore. This is altogether fitting as we continue to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with us) and as we look forward to another new Year under the Lord’s providential care.
Verse 1 Says
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:
Here, we are reminded that God shelters us from any proverbial storm of this life, much like my house is sheltering me even as I write this from the 0 degree actual temperatures outside, and the -21 degree wind chill. (Actual temperatures – I Just asked my Google Home device!). God keeps us safe and warm in his loving and protecting arms. He always has, and he always will.
Verse 2 Proclaims:
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
Jesus, yes even the babe of Bethlehem, is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It’s hard to imagine that the tiny arms of an infant are the very arms of God, able to protect from every danger of body and soul – and yet this is our Christmas confession. Oh Lord, How wondrous are your works!
In verse 3 we sing:
Before the hills in order stood
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
God is Lord of not only our time, but of every time. Now forever in the past. Forever in the future. This makes his providential care over the year 2023 and 2024 and the rest of our lives seem like such a small and manageable task for him. You may be overwhelmed with what is coming up in your life, but God is not. He has been through worse. He will carry and deliver you forever!
Verse 4 reads:
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
The people of Israel waited for millennia to see the birth of their savior Messiah King. We are waiting once again for the Return of Jesus to bring in all the ultimate peace and Joy that he has promised. And yet, for God, millennia are like a single evening. He will return and keep His promises in his own good timing.
Verse 5 speaks of our time:
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Soon bears us all away;
We fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
Although God is forever, we are not. I was confronted with this reality all too closely as I lost my grandfather just three days before Christmas this year. Everything in this life is fleeting. But the word of the Lord remains forever. We trust and cling to him, our everlasting hope!
Verse 6 concludes the hymn in a similar way to how it began:
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last
And our eternal home!
Troubles will indeed come. Perhaps in 2023. Perhaps more the next year. We are not in control. God is God. You are not. This is a hard truth, but one that is helpful as we prepare for a joyous new year under the reign and rule of the Lord God, who has loved us and sent his only-begotten son to live and die for us this Christmas. May we live each day, and each year in His name.
Prayer:
O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Be thou our guard while troubles last and our eternal home. Amen.