How Firm a Foundation

It has been of interest to me how many times I have heard someone share in a talk or in conversation a personal experience with the hymn "How Firm a Foundation." My previous post included a story by Sister Dalton and the encouragement she received from that hymn. I also have had several instances where I was given strength and comfort from "How Firm a Foundation" when I desperately needed it. Remembering those times, it touches my heart every time I read these words. My favorite verses are 5,6 and 8, ones we rarely sing. Here they are.

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 thy deepest distress.

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 and thy gold to refine.

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, no never forsake.

It seems that Heavenly Father has been using the message given in these verses to comfort His saints for quite some time. I recently found this story from Amanda Smith whose husband and son were killed in the attack on Haun's Mill in 1838 in Missouri. Another son Alma's hip had been blown out by a musket ball and she received in answer to prayer directions from an unseen source on how to care for his hip. One day after the attack a message was sent to them from the militia that was nearby that the sound of their praying was hateful and they would have to cease praying or be killed. They dared not pray aloud, but Amanda stole out into a cornfiled. "I prayed aloud and most fervently," she said. "When I emerged from the corn a voice spoke to me. It was a voice as plain as I ever heard one. It was no silent, strong impression of the spirit, but a voice, repeating a verse of the Saints' hymn:

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, no never forsake!

"From that moment I had no more fear. I felt that nothing could hurt me."

(From Our Latter-Day Hymns - The Stories and the Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson)