245. The Lord Our Dwelling-Place

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

2. 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 watches of the night,
With Thee the ages wing their flight.

3. 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.

4. Man in Thy 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.

5. 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 Thy anger as he ought?

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