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Friday, September 16, 2011

How Firm a Foundation

I have a confession to make ... it may sound stuffy, old, and out dated, but I must confess that I love hymns.  I love to listen to praise and worship music too and you can find David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Christy Nockels on my iPod, but I over the last few years I have fallen in love with what I used to call "old" hymns.  So many of them are filled with theology and doctrine and many are straight from scripture.   At Bible study yesterday morning, we sang one of my favorites: "How Firm a Foundation."  You can find almost direct quotes from Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 12:9, and Hebrews 13:5 in this hymn.   Something about singing these verses out loud just makes me what to raise my hands in victory!  


How Firm a Foundation
(Rippons Selection of Hymns, 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
Who unto the Savior for refuge 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 righteous, omnipotent hand.

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

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned 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!"




Glad I could get that off my chest today. :)  Do any of you share my love of hymns and want to join the "Bring back the hymnals movement"?  What is your favorite? 

6 comments:

  1. Yes and yes! I have BSF and the study of docrine to thank for my love of hymns! I have several on my iPod from the album that your YouTube song is from - Together for the Gospel. I love them!! One of my favorites is Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing...Charles Wesley is my favorite hymnwriter. {Ashamedly, when I was younger I thought hymns were outdated and of no use to the "contemporary" church. So sad!!}

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  2. I need to get that for my iPod. It is has been running through my head all day but you KNOW I am not going to sing it out loud! :)

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  3. Just bought it. :)

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  4. The first time I saw Isaiah in the hospital, "How Great Thou Art" was the first thing that was on my mind. "Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder; thy power throughout the universe displayed... then sings my soul..." I get tears everytime I hear the song, and it's the song I sing to Isaiah daily. With Emelyn we sang/sing Amazing Grace daily.

    I also love that a lot of hymns speak of eagerly waiting for the Lord to return and looking forward to heaven - something I feel is not "okay" to say today, even in Christian circles. IT seems so many churches/books, without realizing it, are telling us "He's not returning anytime soon... enjoy life and all of the wonderful blessings God has given you" instead of reminding us that our love for the Lord and desire to be with HIM should far outweigh our love and desire to be with earthly things/people.

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  5. So true Alisha...and something I hadn't thought of. LOVE that you still sing those songs to your kiddos!

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  6. I posted on FB to your mom's post of some of my favorites - 'It is Well', 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross', 'In the Sweet By and By', but didn't post the song that seems to be the one I hum the most often - 'Come, Thou Fount'! Thanks for posting about your love of hymns! We are on the flipside of that and are now in a church where there is a mixture of praise song and hymns. K and D are also learning to play a Chris Tomlin song 'How Great is Our God' - love it!

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