Because God is with us, we are not to fear. His perfect love casts away all fear (1 Jn. 4:18). Jesus has overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). God may not deliver us from our suffering, but He promises to help us through it. He will give us aid, He will strengthen us, and His powerful hand will cause us to stand. What a great reminder that we are not alone in our struggles!

Earlier this year, I took a Doctoral of Ministry class from Dr. Joel Beeke. Dr. Beeke told a story about a woman in his congregation who was struggling with anxiety and depression. She asked him for counsel. Beeke told her to look through her Bible and write down on different sticky notes as many of the promises of God she could find. Then, she was to post the sticky notes all around her house. As she walked throughout her house, she would be reminded of these promises. Over time, after seeing and reflecting on these promises day after day, this helped strengthen and nourish the woman’s soul.[1]
“How Firm a Foundation” is one of those hymns that is filled with the promises of God. The first stanza begins with the reminder that God’s Word is our sure and firm foundation that we build our lives upon (Matt. 7:24-25). As we run to Jesus for refuge, His Word is fully sufficient to help us in time of need.
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 has said,To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Journeying through the Word of God, this hymn reminds us of many promises from Him.
God is With Us
The first promise the song mentions is the promise that God is with us. The second stanza is taken straight out of Isaiah 41:10. It says:
Fear not, I am with thee; oh be not dismayedFor I am thy God and will still give thee aidI’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to standUpheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand
Because God is with us, we are not to fear. His perfect love casts away all fear (1 Jn. 4:18). Jesus has overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). God may not deliver us from our suffering, but He promises to help us through it. He will give us aid, He will strengthen us, and His powerful hand will cause us to stand. What a great reminder that we are not alone in our struggles!
God Will Comfort Us
The second promise mentioned in the hymn is that God will comfort us.
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Christian, although we find ourselves living in different times than we did twenty years ago, the Christian’s job description remains the same: keep poised, keep persevering, keep proclaiming, and keep performing the duties that God has prepared in advance for you to do.

This year I am working with a committee from my high school in planning our twenty-year reunion. I am looking forward to seeing people I have not seen in a long time. It will be a joy to hear about their families, where they are living, and what they are doing with their lives. One thing will be certain: changes have occurred. A lot happens in twenty years.
I have the privilege of serving at a church in my hometown where I graduated. As I have been reflecting on the past twenty years, I have noticed there has been a major change in the spiritual landscape of my community. Many churches that were once thriving are now struggling. Even though there has been a significant population increase, churches have not seen growth. As I talk to other pastor friends around the country, I am hearing the same things. What has changed in the last twenty years?
When the twenty-first century began, our society entered the Innovation Era, a new technological, digital age. I distinctly remember sitting in my dorm room working on my large computer and waiting minutes for my internet to dial up. Now, I can connect online in a second. This digital world enables us to talk to almost anyone anywhere at any time.
The Innovation Era has brought about a lot of good. Technology has played a role in the growth of the kingdom of God by making it possible to reach many people with the gospel who were previously unreached. Christian colleges and seminaries that provide online learning are educating the masses. Along with all the progress this age has brought, there has also been great harm. Pornography has ruined marriages and ministries. Work is much more difficult to turn off. Countless worldviews are being shared as anyone who can get online has a public platform to discuss their ideas. Unfortunately, many in our society are buying into these opposing worldviews and are drifting from the Lord and His church.
The world I find myself living in is a world like Timothy’s, where “people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4).
In 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul warned Timothy about false teachers who were coming from inside and outside the church (1 Tim. 1:6, 19; 4:1; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18). There were four issues that kept coming up in the church from their teachings:

Myths that referred to Old Testament figures from extrabiblical writings would excuse immoral behavior (1 Tim. 1:4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4).
The Jewish law was wrongly interpreted, and heresy was being taught (1 Tim. 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:18).

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