Built on the Rock

Representative Text

1. Built on the Rock the Church shall stand,
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land;
Bells still are chiming and calling;
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the soul distrest,
Longing for rest everlasting.

2. Surely in temples made with hands,
God, the Most High, is not dwelling,
High above earth His temple stands,
All earthly temples excelling;
Yet he who dwells in Heav'n above
Chooses to live with us in love,
Making our bodies his temple.

3. We are God's house of living stones,
Built for His own habitation;
He through baptismal grace us owns,
Heirs of his wondrous salvation;
Were we but two his name to tell,
Yet he would deign with us to dwell,
With all his grace and his favor.

4. Grant then, O God, your will be done,
That when the church bells are ringing,
Many in saving faith may come
Where Christ his message is bringing:
"I know mine own, mine own know me,
You, not the world, my face shall see:
My peace I leave with you always."

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #49

Author: Nicolai F. S. Grundtvig

Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig was the son of a pastor, and was born at Udby, in Seeland, in 1783. He studied in the University of Copenhagen from 1800-1805; and, like some other eminent men, did not greatly distinguish himself; his mind was too active and his imagination too versatile to bear the restraint of the academic course. After leaving the university he took to teaching; first in Langeland, then (1808) in Copenhagen. Here he devoted his attention to poetry, literature, and Northern antiquities. In 1810 he became assistant to his father in a parish in Jutland. The sermon he preached at his ordination, on the subject "Why has the Lord's word disappeared from His house," attracted much attention, which is rarely the case with "pro… Go to person page >

Translator: Carl Døving

Born: March 21, 1867, Nord­dal­en, Nor­way. Died: Oc­to­ber 2, 1937, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois. Buried: De­cor­ah, Io­wa.  Go to person page >

Tune

KIRKEN DEN ER ET GAMMELT HUS

Composed for this text by Ludwig M. Lindeman (b. Trondheim, Norway, 1812; d. Oslo, Norway, 1887), KIRKEN was published in Wilhelm A. Wexel's Christelige Psalmer (1840). A bar form (AAB) tune in the Dorian mode, it is a suitably rugged, folk-like tune for this text, with a satisfying climax in line 6…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #689
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #503
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
With Heart and Voice: songs for all God's children #133
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 29 of 29)

Ambassador Hymnal #294

Audio

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #351

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #247

TextPage Scan

Chalice Hymnal #273

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship (1993) #529

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #856

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #211

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #652

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #362

Hymnal #309

Text

Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #49

TextPage Scan

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #487

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #292

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Service Book #645

Lutheran Worship #291

TextPage Scan

Moravian Book of Worship #512

TextPage Scan

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #82

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #390

Text InfoTune InfoTextScoreAudioPage Scan

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #503

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #347

Sing Joyfully #114

The Covenant Hymnal #595

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #689

The Worshiping Church #705

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #351

TextScoreAudioPage Scan

With Heart and Voice #133

Worship and Rejoice #546

Worship and Song #3147

Worship His Majesty #340

Include 46 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.