How Firm a Foundation, (We never sing the best verses.)
This blog entry will actually be spread over several posts. After an experience which is described later in the post I decided I was going to write about the Hymn “How Firm a Foundation”. It is not a Hymn that I have ever given very much notice before. And I subtitle the Blog entry “We never sing the best verses” because until this same experience, which again I discuss later, I don’t recall ever singing past the third verse. Definitely a tragedy since some of the most poignant verses are those rarely sung.
It makes me want to write a whole other article about verse of hymns we rarely sing, but that’s for another day. I also want to make it clear that I am writing this a one whole document and will be posting over several days. Also some of the material used has been used in other of my posts, b ut they seemed so appropriate her I decided to re-use them with small changes.
A brief introduction and history…very brief.
The Author of this Hymn is unknown. However we know the following:
Dr. John Rippon, a Baptist minister, brought this hymn to America
The popularity of this hymn has spread across many religions, and has withstood the test of time. This Hymn was included in the first LDS hymnbook. Its verse’s are always the same with minor changes from denomination to denomination. Most of the changes are minor but a significant change happened in our own hymn book in the first verse when “You, who unto Jesus, for refuge have fled” was changed in 1985 to “Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?” This same change has been made by other denominations.
And due to the use of a music setting that differs from many other denominations, the LDS version of the text repeats sections of the last lines of each stanza several times before finishing.
And an additional note: You will find the last line of each stanza nicely ties into the following stanza which makes a wonderful continuity throughout the text.
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
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?
I had a Sunday school teacher when I was a youth named Bill West. Brother West one time made an interesting point, he said that often people would like to have their prayers answered by an angel coming down and telling them this great news, when more times than not when Angels come they usually quote scripture. His point being we don’t need angels, we need to read our scriptures.
The foundations of the Gospel are laid out in the scriptures. The testimonies of his prophets on two continents and in modern times are recorded. The words of Christ and accounts of his Atonement, and further accounts of the creation, and the fall, all are in the scriptures.
This Hymn and others also make up a set of text compiled by revelation, for use in our meetings and for our inspiration. We have been given much, “What more can He say than to you He hath said,”
Go to church, read the scripture, pray. A trifecta of answers that all kids learn can easily get them out of answering most questions. You learn early on if you’ll volunteer one of the stock answers up front you will be bypassed later on. However the reason they work is their simplicity and truth. Christ has given these to us through not an easy effort.
His church has been through several apostasies and restorations, and has a specific structure that is organized to provide the ordinances of the Priesthood to all of the earth. It is definitely not a small task.
To understand the tumult that bringing about the scripture so we can have them for us to read is several large books unto themselves. Just in the Book of Mormon alone the miracles that had to occur to bring to pass the translation and publication of that most important volume of scripture are beyond comprehension
And to truly understand prayer and the relationship that we can develop with our Father in Heaven would only come about by understanding his omnipotent powers and priesthoods.
No, these three answer to all question could just be that, the answer to all questions. But they all have something in common. They all have the power to bring us unto Christ.
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?
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
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, so thy succor shall be.
Our lives can be demanding. They can task our wills, and burden our souls. Sometimes the little things in life aren’t little when piled up with a thousand other little things. You know, a fly in your house is annoying, but you can deal with it. But a thousand fly’s can drive you from your home, even in a rain storm.
Where can we turn for relief? When the day to day “grindstone” starts grinding away our patience we can find our refuge in Christ.
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. (Heleman 5:12)
I think everyone has been to that gulf of misery sometime during this life. If you haven’t yet, it’s coming. It is part of this mortal life. The good comes with the bad. Lehi taught us:
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad…(2 Nephi 2:11)
But he never said there would be no comfort. He never said that we would be left alone. Jeremiah asked, “Is there no balm in Gilead ?” (Jeremiah 8:22) When I study the book of Jeremiah, I sometimes wonder if his answer ever comes. The record deals with a time in the history of the kingdom of god where there was rampant wickedness. The descriptions of the time of Jeremiah are engulfed with sorrow, and destruction.
It is later in the book of Jeremiah we read:
But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 39:17-18)
These words were given while Jeremiah was in prison. I have never been in prison. I have never been through some of the experiences of Jeremiah. But sometimes I wonder, “Is there no balm in Gilead ?”
It is during these times of deep distress, that if I kneel down and turn myself toward heaven by looking down at my bended knees, I find the “refuge” I have been looking for.
Just as Jeremiah, the “salve” over the wounds is provided. The atonement covers more than just our sins. The everlasting sacrifice of Jesus Christ encompasses every aspect of our lives if we will let it.
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, so thy succor shall be.
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