Be not afraid

Be not afraid, by John Fawcett, 1782

Hymn VI. L. M.

Be not afraid, it is I. John vi. 20.

1. Children of God, renounce your fears,

Lo! Jesus for your help appears,

And kindly speaks as he draws nigh,

Be not afraid, for it is I.

2. When in the awful tempest toss’d

You feel your strength and courage lost,

And mighty waves roll o’er your head,

Your Lord is near, be not afraid.

3. When mournful tidings come from far,

Or nations raise tumultuous war,

And wide their devastations spread,

Yet he is near, be not afraid.

4. The famine, pestilence and sword,

Are all obedient to his word;

He, riding on the stormy sky,

Says, “Fear ye not, for it is I.”

5. When earthly joys are from you torn,

Or when, with heart-felt grief you mourn,

To see you dear relations dead,

Yet Jesus lives, be not afraid.

6. When fierce disease attacks your frame,

Your Saviour’s love is still the same;

In death’s dark shade you need not fear,

For Jesus will be with you there.

7. When stars are from their orbits hurl’d,

And flames consume the guilty world,

E’en then your Judge will smiling cry,

Be not afraid, for it is I.

As thy days, so shall thy strength be

The following hymn by Baptist minister John Fawcett was published in 1782 in Hymns Adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion (Leeds: G. Wright and Son). Fawcett is probably best known as the writer of “Blest be the tie that binds.” In The Christian Harmonist “As thy days, so shall thy strength be” appears with the tune Bordenton and in Baptist Chorals with Asa Brooks Everett’s Vesper Hymn. Elsewhere it has been paired with Lowell Mason’s Uxbridge, which tune in The Sacred Harp we use with “Thanks to the hand that set us free.”

Hymn XIII. L. M.

As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deut. xxxiii 25.

1. Afflicted soul, to Jesus dear,

The Saviour’s gracious promise hear;

His faithful word declares to thee,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

2. Let not thy heart despond and say,

“How shall I stand the trying day?”

He has engag’d by firm decree,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

3. Thy faith is weak, thy foes are strong;

Yet sure the conflict shan’t be long,

Thy Lord shall make the tempter flee;

For as thy days, thy strength shall be.

4. The christian race with patience run,

Till grace compleat the work begun;

Wrestle and strive for victory,

For as thy days, thy strength shall be.

5. Should persecution rage and flame,

Still trust in thy Redeemer’s name;

In fiery trials thou shalt see,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

6. When called to bear the weighty cross,

Or sore afflictions, pain, or loss,

Or deep distress, or poverty,

Still as thy days, thy strength shall be.

7. When ghastly death appears in view,

Christ’s presence shall thy fears subdue;

He comes to set thy spirit free,

And as thy days, thy strength shall be.

Above is the hymn as it appears originally in Fawcett’s hymn book. Below is the more common, slightly revised way that it appears in many modern hymnals.

1. Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near,

The Savior’s gracious promise hear;

His faithful word declares to thee,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

2. Let not thy heart despond and say,

“How shall I stand the trying day?”

He has engaged by firm decree,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

3. Thy faith is weak, thy foes are strong;

And though the conflict should be long,

Thy Lord will make the tempter flee;

for as thy days, thy strength shall be.

4. Should persecution rage and flame,

Still trust in thy Redeemer’s name;

In fiery trials thou shalt see,

That as thy days, thy strength shall be.

5. When called to bear the weighty cross,

Of sore affliction, pain or loss,

Or deep distress, or poverty,

Still as thy days, thy strength shall be.

6. When ghastly death appears in view,

Christ’s presence shall thy fears subdue;

he comes to set thy spirit free,

And as thy days, thy strength shall be.

Safely confiding

“Then we can go on without fear, trusting in the Lord who ‘worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,’ who turneth the king’s heart withersoever he will, as the rivers of water are turned, who declares that the wicked are his sword, and the men of the world his hand, who commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, and who saith to the sea, ‘Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther.’ In this glorious God, ‘whose counsel shall stand and who will do all his pleasure,’ we can safely confide, assured that he will in his own time and way bring us into the full enjoyment of that righteousness for which we hunger and thirst, and cause us to dwell in his presence forever.” – Silas H. Durand, February, 1887

The Lord is our shepherd, we never shall want; 
In him may we safely confide. 
He’ll guard us in danger, direct us in doubt, 
And everything needful provide.
Stanza 1, Hymn 286 in Sacred Poetry and Music Reconciled, Or, A Collection of Hymns Original and Compiled, by Samuel Willard, 1830

Their hearts shall not be moved 
Who in the Lord confide, 
But, firm as Zion’s hill, 
They ever shall abide: 
As mountains shield Jerusalem
The Lord shall be a shield to them.
Stanza 1, Hymn 672 (Psalm 125) in The Sabbath Hymn Book: for the Service of Song in the House of the Lord, edited by Edwards Amasa Park, Austin Phelps and Lowell Mason, 1858

Since all that I meet 
Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, 
The medicine is food;
Though painful at present 
‘Twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant 
The conqueror’s song.
John Newton, Stanza 7 of “I Will Trust and Not Be Afraid” in Olney Hymns, which begins “Begone, unbelief, My Saviour is near…”

The Rock of My Refuge

Printed in The Postman, London, England, October 1881, page 1

1. The Lord's our Rock; in Him we hide,
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.

Refrain:
Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, A weary land, a weary land;
Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, A shelter in the time of storm.

2. A shade by day, defence by night,
A shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes affright,
A shelter in the time of storm.
[Refrain]

3. The fiercest storms may round us beat,
A shelter in the time of storm;
We'll never quit our safe retreat,
A shelter in the time of storm.
[Refrain]

4. O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,
A shelter in the time of storm;
When needed most be ever near,
A shelter in the time of storm.
[Refrain]

Originally from The Rock of Ages No. 8 of Fullerton and Smith's Song Services, edited by Vernon J. Charlesworth, circa 1880

The Rock

The Rock, July 1, 2015. Common meter.

1. Our Rock is not like other rocks, 
He is the Living Lord;
He lives and reigns in heav'n above,
For thus says God's true word.

2. That Rock that followed Israel
Through all the wilderness
Was Christ from whence the water flowed,
Who by his hand them fed.

3. Upon this Rock he built his church
For glory and for praise;
The gates of hell shall not prevail
In all her length of days.

4. He is our Rock, our Living Lamb,
The one foundation stone.
He knows his own and all of them
Are lodged secure thereon.

The shelter

"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: The secret of his tabernacle shall hide me: He shall set me upon a rock" (Psalm 27:1, 5).

"His promise is the sheltering in His pavillion and tabernacle, and all this is when troubles beset us and try us. Then we have the blessed and sweet promise that He sets us in the good and safe places, and even upon 'This Rock'." -- V. R. Harris