mgpcpastor's blog

Tonight we sang ‘How Firm A Foundation’.
I’d heard this on the Sovereign Grace CD Together For The Gospel. It is also in our Australian Presbyterian Hymnbook, Rejoice!
What a wonderful testimony of God’s faithfulness toward His people. If this was your basic Christian doctrine of God’s preserving and sanctifying grace you could do a lot worse.
The author is understood to be Robert Keene, attributed as ‘K’ in the hymns earliest published appearances.
Interestingly it has been sung to the tune which is used for ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’, Rejoice sets it to ‘Montgomery’. The tune on ‘Together For The Gospel’ seems to be the most popular US tune.
Here are the lyrics we used tonight.
1.
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.
2.
“Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
3.
“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
4.
“When through fiery trials thy pathway 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.
5.
“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes:
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never – no, never, no, never forsake!”

In looking this up on hymn wiki there are two other verses, a second and a sixth.
In ev’ry 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, so thy succor shall be.

“E’en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov’reign eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.

Curiously the Rejoice version of this is extensively rewritten (no surprise there) and is recast with all the first person addresses by God changed to second person affirmations. I think it diminishes the overall impact.
1.
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say to you than He has said,
to all who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
2.
Since Jesus is with you, do not be afraid;
since He is your Lord, you need not be dismayed.
He strengthens you, guards you, and helps you to stand,
upheld by His righteous, omnipotent hand.
3.
When through the deep waters He calls you to go,
the rivers of trouble shall not overflow.
The Lord will be with you, to help and to bless,
and work for your good through your deepest distress.
4.
When through fiery trials your pathway shall lead,
His grace shall sustain you with all that you need.
The flames shall not hurt you, His only design:
your dross to consume and your gold to refine.
5.
Whoever He calls to believe in His Name
will not be deserted, and not put to shame.
Though hell may endeavour that Christian to shake,
his Lord will not leave him, nor ever forsake.

Hymn from and (c) the Rejoice! Hymn Book, Presbyterian Church of Australia

Youtube takes us to Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church for a stately rendition using the tune we sang to tonight.