John Newton (Amazing Grace) wrote this hymn text glorifying the name of God, Jehovah-Jireh, and it was published in the original Olney Hymns in 1779.
We’re introduced to the name Jehovah-Jireh in Genesis 22:14, when God provides Abraham with a sacrificial lamb in place of Isaac. The lesson learned by Abraham (and Isaac) is one we should not forget for our own lives.
Tho’ troubles assail
And dangers affright,
Tho’ friends should all fail
And foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us,
Whatever betide,
The scripture assures us,
The LORD will provide.
The birds without barn
Or storehouse are fed,
From them let us learn
To trust for our bread:
His saints, what is fitting,
Shall ne’er be deny’d,
So long as ’tis written,
The LORD will provide.
We may, like the ships,
By tempests be tost
On perilous deeps,
But cannot be lost:
Tho’ Satan enrages
The wind and the tide,
The promise engages,
The LORD will provide.
His call we obey
Like Abra’m of old,
Not knowing our way,
But faith makes us bold;
For tho’ we are strangers
We have a good Guide,
And trust in all dangers,
The LORD will provide.
When Satan appears
To stop up our path,
And fill us with fears,
We triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us,
Tho’ oft he has try’d,
This heart-cheering promise,
The LORD will provide.
He tells us we’re weak,
Our hope is in vain,
The good that we seek
We ne’er shall obtain;
But when such suggestions
Our spirits have ply’d,
This answers all questions,
The LORD will provide.
No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known
The Saviour’s great name;
In this our strong tower
For safety we hide,
The LORD is our power,
The LORD will provide.
When life sinks apace
And death is in view,
This word of his grace
Shall comfort us thro’:
No fearing or doubting
With CHRIST on our side,
We hope to die shouting,
The LORD will provide.
John Newton
in “John Newton’s Olney Hymns”, republished by Curiosmith in 2011
A good setting for this hymn is the tune for “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”.
