I have been thinking a lot about the hymn "How Firm a Foundation" it hit really hard with me today and I have probably listened to it maybe a dozen times today. Here are the lyrics I want to just talk about a few of them.
How Firm a Foundation, no. 85
1. 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, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2. In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
3. 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, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
6. E’en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.
7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
What a powerful hymn. What a powerful message delivered in such a great medium. These are trying times, ones that have come upon us quickly and seem to be getting worse. With out getting into a political commentary, I believe strongly that the leaders of this nation are in some deep problems and so far their options and ideas haven't worked all that well, maybe they will in the future but only time will tell.
This hymn gives me such great hope. It spells out so clearly the answer for getting through these interesting and troubling times.
Verse three says, "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, upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."
This testifies to me of the love of our savior and the strength that comes from the "firm foundation" in Jesus Christ. When we are weak, the promise is, "he'll strengthen us". When we feel we can't face the day, the promise is, "Cause thee to stand, by his righteous omnipotent hand", meaning he knows what to do if we will but take him by the hand. Why don't we just believe that? Why don't members of the true church understand that? WE NEED TO.
Verse two is such an inspiration for our day. Read these lyrics: In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health, In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth, At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand, As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be."
Friends we are in ev'ry condition. Sickness is rampant among the nations of the earth. People are struggling with all types of infirmities, at the same time, the world is arguably the healthiest it has been, science and technology allow us to know the best types of foods to eat, how to maximize exercise, and what to do in order to rehabilitate broken bones, torn muscles, and blown out knees. The Lord promises we shall have succor according to our needs.
Another line in this verse struck me. "In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth." If you have checked the status of the economy lately you know we are there. Everyday people lose thousands of dollars of equity, business, assets, stocks, whatever the case maybe. The Lord told us to be ready for this through the Prophet Gordon B Hinckley, and it is here. But again, there is only one way to make it through this mess, have a firm foundation. Sounds simple right? I promise it isn't. I think when things are going well for us our foundation isn't very firm. It becomes a society of look at me and what I have accomplished. This isn't what the lord wanted for anyone. This is the reason the nephites were destroyed so many years ago.
"Then through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply." Verse 5. I have been intrigued to sit in sacrament testimony meetings lately and listen to the abundance of trials people go through on a daily basis. But I am even more for the manner in which people handle their trials, by doing exactly what is counseled in verse 5, cling to the grace of Christ, and believe in him. Trials seem to be more abundant today. The truth is they have always been there, I believe that people relied on the Lord a lot more 50, 60, 70, 100 years ago, they had to. There was no Internet, availability of loans, schooling, medical cures, the only thing they had was the Lord. We need to return to that frame of mind, we can't do it alone.
Verse 7 is the perfect testimony of a true saint. "The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!" I like to compare this to the line in "I Believe in Christ" It says, "I believe in Christ so come what may, with him I'll stand in that great day." Latter-day saints have such an awesome knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. I believe the time has arrived for saints to make a stand in this day. We need to decide now where we stand and what we stand for. I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes...SATAN. We need to stand for what is right, and true, and be the lords mouth pieces here on the earth.
As most of you know I love WWII, especially stories of brotherhood. I love the series "Band of Brothers" I love everything about them, they were brave, loyal, straight forward, and honorable men. They looked out for each other, they carried their wounded brethren to safety. We as saints of the true church can learn a lot from these men. We need to stand up for something, take the truth and spread it, look out for one another, and be willing to give our most precious things for each other. The 101st airborne division numerous times went behind enemy lines to rescue 1 member, ten to fifteen men would be willing to give their life so that one man might be rescued. Let us do the same for our friends and family.
I know that these are tough times, I know that the only way to overcome such trials is to have a "firm foundation" The purpose of this was not to judge anyone or point fingers, I just hope that all of us will check our foundations. Make sure we are centered in Christ, and that when the winds of worry, and times of trouble come. We will be standing with our neighbors centered in the Savior.
I know this to be true. I believe in Christ, for myself, so come what may! With him, not anyone or thing else, I'll stand in that great day!
