1. Though troubles assail, and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail and foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The scripture assures us, the Lord will provide.
2. 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 denied,
So long as ’tis written, the Lord will provide.
3. We may, like the ships, by tempest be tossed
On perilous deeps, but cannot be lost.
Though Satan enrages the wind and the tide,
The promise engages, the Lord will provide.
4. His call we obey like Abram of old,
Not knowing our way, but faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers we have a good Guide,
And trust, in all dangers, the Lord will provide.
5. When Satan appears to stop up our path,
And fill us with fears, we triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
This heart-cheering promise, the Lord will provide.
6. 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 plied,
This answers all questions: the Lord will provide.
7. 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.
8. When life sinks apace and death is in view,
This word of His grace shall comfort us through:
No fearing or doubting with Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting: “The Lord will provide!”
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This song appeared in quite a few early American songbooks. The words were written by John Newton and appeared in his Olney Hymns (1779).
The title is based upon the name Abraham gave to the place where Isaac was to be offered, Jehovah-jireh, which meant “the Lord will provide”. The Lord provided an offering in the place of Isaac. The whole story is here:
Genesis 22
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
It is interesting to note that not only did the Lord provide a Ram in the place of Isaac (which symbolized God’s Son, who would be the offering for man’s sin), but he immediately after also provided Abraham with the information of where a wife for Isaac would come from. The information is here:
Genesis 22
20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah…
Isaac was the son of promise, and by his line, the promised Seed would eventually be born. But where was a suitable wife for Isaac? Abraham didn’t have any daughters, and he knew that the daughters of the Canaanites were to steeped into false religion.
But right after the test of being asked to offer up Isaac, the record says, “it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor.” One of these children was Bethuel, and “Bethuel begat Rebekah.”
So not only did God provide an offering in the place of Isaac, but He also provided a wife for Isaac. No doubt she was just a child at that time, so a few years passed after this. But Abraham eventually put this to the test, and through the working of divine providence confirmed that Rebekah was indeed the one that the Lord had provided.
By faithfulness to the test of giving up his son, the Lord provided many blessings to Abraham. This is the reward the Lord gives to those who are faithful under test and trial, and will be ready to give up all things to follow Him. Whatever He asks us to give up, He eventually gives back to us with many other things besides. His ways are truly faultless.
Tags: Bread, Faith, Guidance, Promise, Provision, Safety, Tower, Trust
