How Firm A Foundation

Talk about long pastorates! John Rippon pastored Carter’s Lane Baptist Church in London for 63 years, beginning in 1775. He had been born in 1751, so he was in his mid-twenties when he first mounted the Carter’s Lane pulpit following his education at the Baptist College in Bristol, England. 

During the years of Carter’s Lane, John developed a vision for a church hymnal, which he edited, assisted by his Minister of Music, Robert Keene. The resulting volume, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to Be an Appendix to Dr. Watt’s Psalms and Hymns, was published in 1787. An American edition appeared in 1820. 

“How Firm A Foundation” first appeared here. No one knows its author, for the line reserved for the author’s name simply bore the letter “K.” Many scholars attribute the composition to Keene. The unique power of this hymn is due to the fact that each of the seven original stanzas was based on various biblical promises. The first established the hymnist’s theme - God’s word is a sufficient foundation for our faith. This hymn was first published under the title, “Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises.”

This was the favorite hymn of Theodore Roosevelt, and Andrew Jackson requested that it be sung at his bedside shortly before he died at the Hermitage near Nashville, Tennessee. By his own request, the hymn was also sung at the funeral of Robert E. Lee, as an expression of his full trust in the ways of the Heavenly Father.