Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place
Through all the ages of our race;
Before the mountains had their birth,
Or Thou hadst formed the earth;
From ev­er­last­ing Thou art God,
To ev­er­last­ing our abode.

At Thy command man fades and dies
And newborn generations rise;
A thousand years are passed away,
And all to Thee are but a day;
Yea, like the watchers of the night,
With Thee the ages wing their flight.

Man soon yields up his fleeting breath
Before the swelling tide of death;
Like transient sleep his seasons pass,
His life is like the tender grass,
Luxuriant ’neath the morning sun
And withered ere the day is done.

Man in Thine anger is consumed,
And unto grief and sorrow doomed;
Before Thy clear and searching sight
Our secret sins are brought to light;
Beneath Thy wrath we pine and die,
Our life expiring like a sigh.

For threescore years and ten we wait,
Or fourscore years if strength be great;
But grief and toil attend life’s day,
And soon our spirits fly away;
O who with true and reverent thought
Can fear Thine anger as he ought?

O teach Thou us to count our days
And set our hearts on wisdom’s ways
Turn, Lord, to us in our distress
In pity now Thy servants bless;
Let mercy’s dawn dispel our night,
And all our day with joy be bright.

O send the day of joy and light,
For long has been our sorrow’s night;
Afflicted through the weary years,
We wait until Thy help appears;
In all Thy children Thou abide,
In us let God be glorified.

So let there be on us bestowed
The beauty of the Lord our God;
The work accomplished by our hand
Establish Thou, and make it stand;
Yea, let our hopeful labor be
Established ev­er­more by Thee.