How Firm a Foundation
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
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled
2
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
3
When
through the deep waters I call thee to go
The rivers of sorrow
shall not overflow
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to
bless
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress
4
When
through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie
My grace all
sufficient shall be thy supply
The flame shall not hurt thee; I
only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine
5
The
soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not
desert to its foes
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to
shake
I’ll never,
no never,
no never
forsake
[amen – with hands raised to heaven]
Author (attributed to) “K” in Rippon’s Selection of Hymns published in 1787. “K” is thought to refer to Robert Keen (or Keene), director of music at Carter Lane Baptist Church in London, England when John Rippon was pastor. Fifty years later (1837) the song was included in Caldwell’s Union Harmony. The lyrics and traditional American melody are in the public domain. This is the closing music in the 1983 movie The Day After, about a nuclear strike against the United States.
377
The Ghost From Valley Forge
01. I had a dream the other night I didn’t understand,
02. A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
03. His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed,
04. He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low he said:
05. We fought a revolution to secure our liberty,
06. We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
07. For future generations, this legacy we gave,
08. In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.
09. The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you’d always keep,
10. But tyrants labored endlessly while your parents were asleep.
11. Your freedom gone – your courage lost – you’re no more than a slave,
12.In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
13. You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
14. Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
15. On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent,
16. Although you have no voice in choosing how the money’s spent.
17. Your children must attend a school that doesn’t educate,
18. Your moral values can’t be taught, according to the state.
19. You read about the current ‘news’ in a very biased press,
20. You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the IRS.
21. Your money is no longer made of silver or of gold,
22. You trade your wealth for paper, so life can be controlled.
23. You pay for crimes that make our nation turn from God to shame,
24. You’ve taken Satan’s number, as you’ve traded in your name.
25. You’ve given government control to those who do you harm,
26. So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm.
27. And keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail,
28. Harass your fellow countryman while corrupted courts prevail.
29. Your public servants don’t uphold the solemn oath they’re sworn,
30. Your daughters visit doctors so children won’t be born.
31. Your leaders ship artillery and guns to foreign shores,
32. And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people’s wars.
33. Can you regain your freedom for which we fought and died?
34. Or don’t you have the courage, or the faith to stand with pride?
35. Are there no more values for which you’ll fight to save?
36. Or do you wish your children live in fear and be a slave?
37. Sons of the republic, arise and take a stand!
38. Defend the Constitution, the supreme law of the land!
39. Preserve our republic, and each God-given right!
40. And pray to God to keep the torch of freedom burning bright!
41. As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from whence he came,
42. His words were true, we are not free, and we have ourselves to blame.
43. For even now as tyrants trample each God-given right,
44. We only watch and tremble – too afraid to stand and fight.
45. If he stood by your bedside in a dream while you’re asleep,
46. And wonder what remains of your right he fought to keep.
47. What would be your answer if he called out from the grave?
48. Is this still the land of the free and home of the brave?
(This online poem is in the public domain)
378
Child of the Patriotic Dead
01. Child of the patriotic dead,
02. A nation’s hand rests on thy head;
03. A nations heart beats close to thine,
04. The country fondly calls thee ‘mine’!
05. On battle-fields, as death’s cold chill
06. Steals o’er the heart, the patriot’s will
07. Gives up, upon that blood-stained sod,
08. His child to country and to God.
09. What legacy so rich? Who loved so well
10. As these—bequeathed ’mid shot and shell—
11. The flesh and blood of him who bore
12. A freeman’s flag on southern shore?
13. Remembered be thy father’s grave,
14. Remembered all he died to save;
15. And welcome to our hearts and home
16. The babes he cherished as his own.
17. How base the heart, how lost to shame,
18. That calls thee by a pauper’s name;
19. That, grudging, has an alms to give
20. For those who died that we might live!
21. Nay, dear one, think not this shall be
22. The kindness we will show to thee;
23. But gather round the homestead board
24. With every blessing bounteous stored.
25. The memory of thy father’s deeds
26. Entwined with all thy wants and needs,
27. Makes all we do but sweet employ,
28. And gives each heart a lasting joy.
29. Close to our hearts, ye noble band;
30. Yours, for a heritage, this princely land;
31. In thanks, a nation, with its care,
32 Will watch and guard you everywhere.
(This civil war era poem is in the public domain)
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