How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

This is the hymn that's been on my heart all week.

Listen at Cyberhymnal.

Posted by TulipGirl | 04:10 PM| TrackBack (0) | Words

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Comments

Please don't tell me you know the words to all those verses :-) I'm always lucky to remember the words to the first verse of most hymns. Anyway, great hymn.
Posted by: Andrea at August 16, 2004 08:51 PM

*L*

I know all the verses to a few hymns, but most I peter out after the first stanza or two and need to rely on my trusty red Trinity Hymnal.

For some praise&worship choruses that we sing here in Kyiv, I can only remember the Russian words--completely have forgotten the English ones.
Posted by: TulipGirl at August 16, 2004 09:06 PM

My favorite hymn. What an encouragement for times like those DH and I have been through recently. When we are in our deepest, darkest despair... "the soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes; that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake." How firm a foundation!
Posted by: Jennifer at August 17, 2004 01:24 AM

Great hymn!
Have you heard Fernando Ortega's rendition of this one? It's wonderful.
Posted by: angie at August 17, 2004 01:58 AM

I love Fernando Ortega's music - will have to look this one up!
Posted by: Andrea at August 17, 2004 02:38 AM

Jennifer,

I'm sorry for the rough times y'all are facing. One of my favorite things in the OT, is when the Israelites are taking over Canaan and every so often the Lord says, roughly paraphrased, "Put up a monument here--so you can remember what I've done. And when your children ask 'What is this monument?' then you can tell them of God's faithfulness.

For me, hymns like this become monuments that help me remember how God has carried me through.

Blessings on you and yours.
Posted by: TulipGirl at August 17, 2004 10:30 PM

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