Music & HymnsHow Firm A Foundation

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

Words: From A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, by John Rippon, 1787; attributed variously to John Keene, Kirkham, and John Keith.

Music: Early American melody; harmony from Tabor: or, the Richmond Collection of Sacred Music, by Rigdon McCoy McIntosh (New York: 1866)

"Adeste Fideles," John Francis Wade (1711-1786)

"Lyons," attributed to Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806); arranged by William Gardner (1770-1858) in Sacred Melodies, 1815

"Montgomery," attributed to John Stanley, 18th Century

"St. Denio (Joanna)," Welsh melody; from Canaidau y Cyssegr, by John Roberts, 1839

This hymn was sung at the funerals of American presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and American Civil War general Robert E. Lee.

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.

Hymns supplied through the gracious generosity of the Cyber Hymnal Website