Wednesday, September 9, 2009

What’s your foundation built with?


Ezra 3: 11

…Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the Lord's Temple had been laid.

The reading this morning was so uplifting that after many years the people were back in Israel and rebuilding the temple. I imagine the trumpets blowing, the cymbals clashing, the people all shouting for joy ~ they were finally home. The work of rebuilding was in progress. The joy that must have passed through each person's heart to realize in their hearts the beginning of verse 11 ~ He is good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!

Many shed tears because they had seen the first temple, others were so happy they were shouting for joy for the new…whatever the reason they were praising God for being faithful! He is so faithful!

All of this brought back an old hymn to my mind ~ How Firm a Foundation! I wouldn't put it on my top 10 hymns, but it made an impression on my heart, because it came to mind with this story. Here are a few stanzas…

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,
you, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
in poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
as thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

When I looked up this old hymn that touched my heart years ago with the meaning of the words, I found that President Teddy Roosevelt and President Woodrow Wilson loved this hymn as well. They wanted it at their funerals. Also, General Robert E. Lee requested it at his funeral. Perhaps even more touching was a time at war on Christmas Eve when all the troops began to sing this song together. All the troops were familiar enough to sing this hymn together.

So, how firm is our foundation? We must ask ourselves that question because it isn't about an actual building that we worship at or a group of people that we worship with is it? It is about our faith foundation with Our Savior is it built of good lasting stuff?

Working on the foundation,

Debbie


 

2 comments:

Frankie said...

Debbie, I am asking myself, "how firm is my foundation?" Christ the Solid Rock is the the Firm Foundation.

Recently it was me that was moving and shaking not God. When my sister-in-law died in January, I found myself disappointed and questioning God. I was shaking but the Foundation held firm. The Lord steadied me through His Word.

Praying that I continue to do my part in reinforcing the foundation with the truth of God's Word.

Linda said...

We just studied this story in the Good News Class. It was great to hear the simple truth from my students about how happy they would be if it happened to them.