How Firm A Foundation
John Rippon
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.
9 comments:
My favorite hymn. Thanks Jamie!
"...What more can He say than to you He hath said,"
That's an interesting line to me. Do we believe he couldn't have said more? or that more would not have been beneficial?
I agree that he DID NOT say anymore, but COULD NOT seems a little funny to me.
Not trying to be irreverent, just hoping to spark some conversation.
Ah... good call Michael. I think have an answer for you, for what that's worth. My opinion isn't worth much, but I also had a comment about your morning post. Unfortunately, I can't comment now about it.. will keep it in my thoughts and write soon. A little intimidating to respond to such wise philosophers as yourself.. stay tuned.... (i feel like i've said that three times lately - what a dork..)
jamie...not related to your post at all...but i made an 80!! for those of you reading this...doesn't sound like much to be proud of...but 70 would've been wonderful!! thanks for praying.
also...phone date today after work, before church???
Great Hymn!
We sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God in chapel today...Man I love hymns!
Thanks for that hymn Jamie! It
s always been one of my favorites. It helps me to remember that my only refuge is Jesus Christ, no matter my situation, no matter my stage in life, whether just starting out or with "hoary hairs." God's Word is all-sufficient. We need no other word, no other comfort, no other security.
Side note here:
Jamie, Mary called me today! You need to call me if you get a minute!!! :) :) :) :)
Love you!
so i finally found your blog
About "what more can he say than to you he hath said". There is absolutely no way that the line means that God COULD NOT have said more. Rather, in his infinite wisdom, there is nothing more he could say that would be beneficial to our faith. Certainly God could have said more about himself that would greater reveal himself to us.
God's word is inspired, infallible and more than that, all sufficient for every need we have. This is where I certainly disagree with the catholic view that the Bible and experience complement each other to the point that they are on the same authority level. And the pope has a direct line to God giving decree straight from him like a high priest that usurps even scripture. If the bible is not complete, then we really must be holy to hear from God ourselves. What a danger that task is when left to our depraved minds.
This hymn is a thanking God for giving us a special revelation greater than the general revelation that we have in nature and our surroundings. And for not leaving us to ourselves to search for him; rather, we are sought our from God himself.
Nice thought Michael, I've never even considered that meaning to that line.
Michael,
I'd comment, but Chad basically said (much more eloquently) what I was thinking - "Rather, in his infinite wisdom, there is nothing more he could say that would be beneficial to our faith"
I completely agree.
I still have a comment on the "preach the Gospel always, if necessary, use words post" - I'll try to get it to you soon.
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