O God, The Rock Of Ages

O God, the Rock of ages,
who evermore hast been,
what time the tempest rages,
our dwelling place serene:
Before Thy first creations,
O Lord, the same as now,
to endless generations,
the everlasting Thou.

Our years are like the shadows
on sunny hills that lie,
or grasses in the meadows
that blossom but to die;
A sleep, a dream, a story
by strangers quickly told,
an unremaining glory
of things that soon are old.

O Thou, who cannot slumber,
Whose light grows never pale,
teach us aright to number
our years before they fail;
And may we find and know Thee,
Thy kindness and Thy ways;
And Thou our Guide and Friend be,
the Lord of all our days.

Lord, crown our faith's endeavour
with glory and with grace,
till, clothed in light forever,
we see Thee face to face:
A joy no language measures,
a fountain brimming o'er,
an endless flow of pleasures,
in Christ for evermore.