How Firm a Foundation
Words: "K " in John Rippon's "A Selection of Hymns," 1787 · Tune "Foundation": traditional American melody, 19th c. · Public domain
Verse 1
GHow firm a Cfoundation, ye Gsaints of the DLord,
Is Glaid for your Cfaith in His Gexcellent DWord!
What Gmore can He Csay than to Gyou He hath Dsaid,
To Gyou who for Emrefuge to DJesus have Gfled?
Verse 2
G"Fear not, I am Cwith thee, O Gbe not Ddismayed,
For GI am thy CGod and will Gstill give thee Daid;
I'll Gstrengthen thee, Chelp thee, and Gcause thee to Dstand,
GUpheld by My Emrighteous, Domnipotent Ghand."
Verse 3
G"When through the Cdeep waters I Gcall thee to Dgo,
The Grivers of Csorrow shall Gnot Doverflow;
For GI will be Cwith thee, thy Gtroubles to Dbless,
And Gsanctify Emto thee thy Ddeepest Gdistress."
Verse 4
G"When through fiery Ctrials thy Gpathway shall Dlie,
My Ggrace, all Csufficient, shall Gbe thy Dsupply;
The Gflame shall not Churt thee; I Gonly Ddesign
Thy Gdross to Emconsume, and thy Dgold to Grefine."
Chords in the key of G
- G
- C
- D
- Em
About this hymn
- Words
- Signed only "K" in the original printing, usually identified as Robert Keen, 1787
- Music
- FOUNDATION, anonymous American folk melody, first published 1832 in Joseph Funk's tunebook
- Meter
- 11.11.11.11
- In
- 2,403 hymnals
- Scripture
- Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5
The story
Nobody is sure who wrote this. The original printing signed it with one letter, K. Robert Keen, who led the singing at John Rippon's church, is the usual guess, and George Keith gets named too, but it has never been settled. It came out in 1787 in Rippon's Selection of Hymns, sold as a supplement to Isaac Watts, which got it into Baptist churches quickly. Look at the verses and you see what makes it different. After the first one, it is God speaking straight to you, stitched together from promises in Isaiah 41 and 43. The tune is American and anonymous, a pentatonic folk melody printed in a Virginia shape note book in 1832.
Where it fits in a service
Often used at a homegoing, in a service about trouble or assurance, and as a hymn before the sermon. The pentatonic melody lies easy under a congregation that sings by ear.
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