How Firm a Foundation
By John Rippon 1787
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—
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, 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 gracious, omnipotent hand.
“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
Hunger and Thirst 
My wife and I had the opportunity to attend David Platt’s (Author of ‘The Radical Experiment’) church today. This old hymn was one of the songs we sang. There is something about some of the old ones. There is definitely something about this one.
For any who might have read the book or at least heard about it, like me you might wonder how David Pratt comes across. That was one of the reasons I wanted to go. I usually think of radical as being a little ‘in your face’. But with David Pratt it was distinctly ‘humble’.
I guess humble is radical these days . . .so far away from what is seen and experienced.
This hymn says so much! So much of what I think but can’t express. Thank you for sharing it! Also, I thought it was just the perfect response to someone else’s post today, so shared it with her.
God bless you and yours!
Glad you liked the words. I know I did. As soon as I heard it I knew I would have to look them up. But it is also a cool song. I found this link to a pretty good version of it.
Finally got to come back to listen to the song being sung. So perfect. I’m in tears! Thank you for posting that Mike!
Thanks for sharing – how true and how encouraging.
Rachel
Great hymn!