# 680, O God, our help in ages past

Words: Isaac Watts,

Music: St. Anne, melody by William Croft and harmonized by William Henry Monk

This is surely one of the most familiar and popular hymns in Christendom. The author is Isaac Watts (1674-1748), an English Christian hymn writer, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymn writer, he was recognized as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns . For this hymn, he has built his text as a paraphrase of Psalm 90: 1-5 and was first published in 1791 in his volume “Psalms of David.” The original version features 7 verses, but only 5 verses are included in our 1982 Hymnal, with the 1st verse repeated at the end.

The music’s tune is called St. Anne and was written by Dr. William Croft (1678-1727), organist of the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey and the leading composer of Queen Anne’s reign (1702-1707). The tune name does not infer sainthood for Queen Anne but rather refers to Croft’s tenure as organist at St. Anne’s Church, Soho, from 1700-1711. It was originally intended to be used with a version of Psalm 62. It was not until sometime later when set to Watts' text that the tune gained recognition.

Of note: Among many other public settings, this hymn was sung in 1941 on board HMS Prince of Wales at a religious service attended by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the conference creating the Atlantic Charter. Also, it is one of very few hymns in our Hymnal where the first word of the verse is not capitalized – “under” at the start of verse 2.

YOUTUBE Enjoy this stirring choir and congregation at Westminster Abbey. This is how hymns should be sung!