quote · Legacy record
Why build ye on the unsteady sand, A worthless house that cannot stand? Behold, in winter’s stormy day, That frail support will glide away, And rising billows lightly sweep Your fortress to the yawning deep. God hath a sure foundation given, Fix’d as the firm decrees of heaven: The changeless, everlasting rock, That braves the storm, and bides the shock; There build: the gates of hell in vain Against that rock their war maintain. Christ is the rock, the corner stone, Faith rears her beauteous house thereon; Adorn’d with works of willing love, And pointing to the scenes above; Where faith and hope their sway resign, Swallow’d in sight and joy divine.
Why build ye on the unsteady sand, A worthless house that cannot stand? Behold, in winter’s stormy day, That frail support will glide away, And rising billows lightly sweep Your fortress to the yawning deep. God hath a sure foundation given, Fix’d as the firm decrees of heaven: The changeless, everlasting rock, That braves the storm, and bides the shock; There build: the gates of hell in vain Against that rock their war maintain. Christ is the rock, the corner stone, Faith rears her beauteous house thereon; Adorn’d with works of willing love, And pointing to the scenes above; Where faith and hope their sway resign, Swallow’d in sight and joy divine.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Charlotte Elizabeth (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 235 · printed citation: Charlotte Elizabeth · subject: FOUNDATION
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.