Last week I shared some thoughts I got from the third and fourth verses of the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”*. This week I would like to share some thought from the fifth verse.
The fifth verse says,
"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
that soul, though all hell should
endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"
This verse reminds me of a couple of passages of scripture. The first one is Ephesians 6:12--“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” From this scripture we know that there are spiritual forces around us that seek to separate us from God and pull us into a rebellious and sinful life. This verse of the song assures us that in the midst of the spiritual battles we face, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit fight for us and we do not need to rely on our own strength and our own abilities.
The second scripture this verse of the song reminds me of is Romans 8:35-39—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We might add “nor Corona Virus” can separate us from the love of Christ. God loves us so much He will not let us go.
I have always been vertically challenged to the point that in first grade the custodian made a little platform to put in front of the shortest chair they had so my feet would not have to dangle in the air all day. Having such short legs was a distinct disadvantage when walking with my dad. Sometimes when we would go walking and I would try to keep up with him by holding on to his finger. Many times, when dad would take a step over an obstacle, his finger would pull free from my hand. However, when he held my hand when we walked together, he held on tight and could swing me over the obstacle. That is the picture I have from all of this. If we hold on to God, we can lose our grasp on Him when we encounter obstacles, but if we allow Him to hold onto us He will help us over any obstacle and we will not be separated from Him no matter what.
Are you trying to hold on to God? It is better to surrender yourself to Him and let Him hold on to you. Then nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. What a firm foundation for our faith and our lives.
*As far as I could find, this hymn first appeared in a hymnal printed in 1787. The only note concerning the author is “K” and no one seems to know who “K” was.