How Firm a Foundation

This theologically rich hymn begins with a horizontal appeal, reminding believers that God’s Word is fixed and firm, unwavering and unshakable. The author characterizes the Word as excellent: it is forever settled (Ps 119:89), is true and enduring (Ps 119:160), is good (2 Ki 20:19), right (Ps 33:4), and pure (Ps 119:140). The Word of God sustains (Matt 4:4) and energizes (1 Th 2:13) believers; it is proven (Ps 18:30), profitable (2 Tim 3:16), and powerful (Heb 4:12). For those who have trusted Jesus, the words recorded in Scripture are an anchor in trial and uncertainty.

In the succeeding stanzas, the hymn writer presents—in poetic adaptations directly from Scripture—a series of “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Pe 1:4) that have comforted and encouraged God’s people for generations.

Moses was personally familiar with prosperity and poverty, times of weal and of woe. So as he neared death, it was a great encouragement for him to bear witness of God’s fidelity: “as thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deu 3:25). Regardless of life’s circumstances, he could say, God is faithful to supply daily the required portion of strength. It is good that we believers recognize our weakness, for it is only then that we value a promise of strength beyond our own. Can we trust His strength? He who has promised to strengthen us is the God who “[upholds] all things by the word of his power” (Heb 1:3), who “stretchest out the heavens like a curtain” (Ps 104:2) and “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). What strength we gain by resting in Him!

The third stanza borrows directly from Isaiah 41:10, where the prophet records the soothing words, “Fear not.” In the face of difficulty and distress, we need our fears assuaged and our faith bolstered. We need courage to stand, to fight on, to endure. But we need never be afraid or dismayed, even in the bleakest of circumstances, for the God that sustains and upholds us has never once been unnerved or frustrated. He knows no fear. David writes that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1). He’s not simply accessible or available; He’s present with us, walking beside us, supporting us. He “[holds] thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isa 41:13). When we feel weak, “God is my strength and power” (2 Sa 22:33). When we feel helpless, He is “my help and my deliverer” (Ps 70:5). When we have stumbled or fallen, we can confidently stand, trusting the mighty hand of our God who “doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Cor 1:10).

That believers will suffer trials is a guarantee (Jhn 16:33). But God promises to secure and deliver us even in our greatest difficulties and dangers. These two stanzas together amplify these familiar words: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isa 43:2). The metaphors here are powerful: waters overwhelm and drown; fires scorch and consume. Trials are real. Yet our passing and walking through them suggests a calm assurance, free of the panic and hurry that might accompany a lack of trust, for “he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa 28:16). When He ordains that we endure trials, our Father promises that they will not overcome us, for His design is our sanctification through the refiner’s fire (1Pe 1:7). The psalmist writes that “thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried…. we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place” (Ps 66:10-12). No matter how fierce the troubles that assail us, God strengthens and sustains us; He has promised to be with us. When God is with us, He certainly is for us; and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

God’s promises are enduring: “even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isa 46:4). God sustains us even if we live long after gray graces the temples; we cannot outlive this promise. Because He has promised, God’s character and reputation are at stake, so He ensures that our lives will testify that “the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Ps 100:5). He has promised; He will deliver. Even to old age, the lives of His people will demonstrate God’s unending faithfulness; His reliability and trustworthiness will not expire. When we become weary or feeble, He continues unflagging in His support: “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Ps 73:26). And even when we come to the end of our way, we can with courage and anticipation stare into the face of the last enemy, for our God will not “suffer [His] faithfulness to fail” (Ps 89:33); “he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom” (Isa 40:11).

The concluding stanza conveys great assurance from Moses’ final counsel to Israel: “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deu 31:6). Only two verses later (v8), he doubles down on that encouragement: “the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” Though Satan and all hell be arrayed against us, seeking to shake the faith of God’s little lambs and to snatch them from the safety of the fold, not one lamb will be lost (Jhn 17:12; 18:9), not one will be forgotten (Luk 12:6), not one will be forsaken (Ps 9:10). Those that trust Jesus, God has promised to see through every trial; He perseveres in preserving His treasured children.

Among the most valued of all Christian hymns, How Firm a Foundation masterfully blends scriptural promises into a beautiful expression of God’s character. It encourages His people with magnificent, cornerstone themes: God’s sovereignty and omnipotence, His design for our sanctification through trial and difficulty, His eternal, enduring love, and the sufficiency of Scripture and of sustaining grace. The hymn is a call to press on, fearless, assured that “the LORD is the strength of my life” (Ps 27:1), and the hymn writer joins the great cloud of witnesses (Heb 12:1), cheering us through trials and urging us to faithfully “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Ti 2:3). God is our strength, our sustenance, our deliverer, and He will never, no never, no never forsake!