251. Now I have found the firm foundation

1 Now I have found the firm foundation,
Where evermore my anchor grounds!
It lay there ere the world's creation,
Where else, but in my Savior's wounds?
Foundation, which unmoved shall stay,
When earth and heaven pass away.

2 It is that mercy never ending
Which all conception far transcends,
Of Him, who, love's arms extending,
To wretched sinners condescends;
Whose heart with pity still doth break,
Whether we seek Him or forsake.

3 Our ruin God has not intended,
He wills salvation to bestow;
For this the Son to earth descended,
And then to heaven again returned;
For this so loudly evermore
He knocketh at our heart’s closed door.

4 O depth of love, in which, past finding,
My sins through Christ's blood disappear;
This is for wounds the safest binding,
There is no condemnation here;
For Jesus’ blood forever cries:
Free mercy, mercy, to the skies!

5 I never will forget this crying;
In faith I’ll trust it all my days,
And, when o’er all my sins I’m sighing,
I toward my Father’s heart will gaze;
This always doth to me extend
A mercy the will never end.

6 Be it with me as He is willing,
Whose mercy is a boundless sea;
May He himself my heart be stilling,
That this may ne'er forgotten be;
Then it will rest, in joy and woe,
On mercy, while it beats below.

7 On this foundation, I, unshrinking,
Will stand, while I on earth remain;
This shall engage my acting, thinking,
While I the breath of life retain;
Then sin I in eternity,
Unfathomed Mercy, still of Thee.

Text Information
First Line: Now I have found the firm foundation
Author: Johann Andreas Rothe (1727)
Translator: G. F. Krotel (1807)
Meter: No. 32
Language: English
Publication Date: 1908
Topic: The Catechism: Justification; Septuagesima
Notes: From the German Text: Ich habe nun den Grund gefunden
Tune Information
Name: SALVATION BY GRACE (Aus Gnaden soll ich selig werden)
Composer: Justin Heinrich Knecht (1796)
Meter: No. 32
Key: A♭ Major



Media
More media are available on the text authority and tune authority pages.

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us