During the summer months, most denominations hold their annual national meetings. These can be times of great joy and celebration as reports are shared about the progress of the gospel through their church planting, foreign missions, and discipleship ministries. In addition to the “business” of the church that is conducted, these are also pleasant times of renewing friendships with colleagues and former school classmates, almost like a homecoming school reunion. And for some, a highlight are worship services as thousands join their voices in singing great hymns of the faith, and hear sermons from some of the finest preaches of our day.
Sadly, in some denominations, these are painful times where liberal theology and unbelief increase their influence, leading denominations further and further away from their historical and biblical roots. Increasingly such denominations follow the “progressive” views and priorities of our culture, not only in rejection of foundational doctrines (such as biblical inerrancy, Jesus’ virgin birth, and substitutionary atonement), but also in opposition to long-standing principles of morality (such as the homosexual agendas, abortion support, and gender identity), with a shift away from the mission of evangelism and church planting to the early 20th century substitute of social justice.
When the focus remains on the gospel, people can rejoice in a fresh commitment to the church as the bride of Christ, seeking to renew a commitment to Him and to the work to which He has called us, aiming at making His bride more and more beautiful, adorned with the fruit of the Spirit, and leading lost souls to the giver of eternal life. We have a rich treasury of hymns about the church which we can sing at such meetings, and in our local churches as we pray for God’s blessing on His church, the body of Christ as well as the bride of Christ.
“Built on the Rock the Church Doth Stand” is one of those hymns in which we sing of our confidence that the true church of Jesus Christ will endure though the ages, until Jesus returns to establish her forever in all her glorious splendor in the new heavens and the new earth. Despite the many attacks on the church from a hostile culture without which hates her, and from those within who have betrayed their Savior by denying essential truths about Him, Jesus promised that He will build His church, and the gates of hell will not be able to stand against it (Matthew 16:18).
The hymn was written by Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) and was first published in Copenhagen in 1837. “Built on the Rock” is a great favorite among Scandinavian Christians, second only to Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress. In 1909 “Built on the Rock” was translated into English and quickly became a favorite among the children of the Reformation living in America. Grundtvig was the son of a pastor, and was born at Udby, in Seeland. 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 “probationers’” sermons.
Nikolai Grundtvig was the youngest of five boys. His parents, Johann and Catherine Marie, were faithful Christian parents, his father a Lutheran preacher. Nikolai’s father was one of the few Lutheran pastors in Denmark who remained faithful to the reformation and the clear teachings of scripture. The country and the clergy were struggling against the philosophy of rationalism. “Sapere aude!” (“Dare to know”) was the rationalist’s battle cry. Prominent philosophers like Immanuel Kant asserted that, because of the limitations of reason, no one could really know whether or not there is a God in heaven. So, apparently, it was “dare to know” that no one really knew. Young Nikolai couldn’t help but be influenced the philosophy of his day which is part of the reason he was plagued with reservation and doubt.
To make matters worse, the reservations and doubts that plagued Nikolai’s soul were physically represented by what was left of the 600 year-old Cathedral of Our Lady in Copenhagen. In 1807 the cathedral was burned to the ground after the British Royal Navy bombed it to oblivion during the Napoleonic wars. Nikolai was 24 years old when the mighty cathedral fell. He likely passed by the rubble and ruins of the cathedral on his way to classes at the university. By the time Nikolai graduated from the university, he had become so cynical about the faith in which his parents had raised him that he admitted he was “without spirit and without faith.”
When his father died in 1813, he returned to Copenhagen, and for eight years devoted himself mainly to literature. The poetry, both secular and religious, that he produced, drew from a friend the remark that “Kingo’s harp had been strung afresh.” In 1821 King Frederik VI appointed him pastor of Prasloe, a parish in Seeland, from which he was the next year removed to Copenhagen, and made chaplain of St. Savior’s church in Christianshavn. From the time of his ordination he had been deeply impressed with Evangelical church sentiments, in opposition to the fashionable Rationalism and Erastianism of the day; and adhered to the anti-rationalist teaching of Hauge, whose death at this time (1824) seemed to be a call to Grundtvig to lift up his voice.
An opportunity soon presented itself. Professor Clausen brought out a very significant book entitled “Katholicismens og Protestantismens Forfatning, Ldre, og Ritus” (“The condition, teaching, and ritual of Catholicism and Protestantism”). This book was replete with the Erastian Rationalism which was so especially distasteful to Grundtvig, who forthwith, in his “Kirkens Gjenmsele” (“The Church’s Reply,” 1825), strongly opposed its teaching, and laid down truer principles of Christian belief, and sounder views of the nature of the Church. This caused a sensation. Grundtvig (who had not spared his opponent) was fined 100 rixdollars, and the songs and hymns which he had written for the coming celebration of the tenth centenary of Northern Christianity were forbidden to be used. At this he resigned his post at St. Savior’s, or rather was forced to quit it by a sentence of suspension which was pronounced in 1826, and under which he was kept for 13 years.
He took the opportunity of visiting England in 1829, 30, and 31, and consulting its libraries, mainly with a view to a further insight into Northern antiquities, and to help his studies in the early English tongue. His edition of Cynewulfs beautiful poem of the Phenix from the “Codex Exoniensis,” the Anglo-Saxon (so-called) text, with a preface in Danish, and a free rendering in Danish published in 1840, is a result of this journey and enforced leisure. Tired of his long silence, his numerous friends and admirers proposed to erect a church for him, and formed themselves into an independent congregation, but this was not permitted. He was allowed, however, to hold an afternoon service in the German church at Christianshavn.
There he preached for eight years, and compiled and wrote his hymn-book, “Sang-Vdrk til den Danske Kirkce” (“Song-work for the Danish Church”). He still worked on towards his object of raising the Christian body to which he belonged from the condition of a mere state establishment to the dignity of a gospel-teaching national church. In 1839 (the year of the death of King Frederik, and the accession of his cousin Chrisliem) the suspension was removed, and he was appointed chaplain of the hospital Vartou, a position which he held till his death. In 1863 the King Frederik conferred on him the honorary title of bishop. By then an old man, he died suddenly in his 89th year, on September 2, 1872, having officiated the day before. Grundtvig is spoken of as the poet of Whitsuntide. He wrote many works, including some on Norse mythology and more than 1,000 hymns. His life is testimony of the goodness of God, leading him out of the spiritual bankruptcy of rationalism to fully embrace and preach the evangelical doctrines of grace.
Grundtvig’s era and the circumstances of his ministry and the similarities with challenges for young people today make this a most relevant hymn text. More than a few of our young people are plagued with similar reservations and doubts. Even though they, like Nikolai, have been raised by fine Christian parents, some of them even raised by preachers, many today struggle with doubts. Our county and our clergy are still struggling with a rebranded version of rationalism called postmodernism. Postmodernism is a philosophy of skepticism that is suspicious of everything and rejects the notion of an absolute truth. Postmodernism doesn’t merely question the existence of God in heaven. Rather it suggests the God in heaven is whatever you imagine him, or her, or it, to be. Our young people struggle with the idea that the God in heaven is whatever they want him, her, or it to be. Which is why we hear young people say things like “my God would never…”, or “my God is accepting of…”, or “my God understands we…”, if they even believe that a god of any kind even exists. Some have sunk not into atheism, but into what could be called apatheism, where they don’t whether or not God exists.
So how do we help these young people who are plagued with reservations and doubts? How do we help them see the church the way the Nikolai, who wrote “Built on the Rock,” eventually came to see the church? It begins with an understanding that their faith cannot be founded on their parents’ faith. Yes, parents are tasked by God to train them in the way they should go, but we parents must never forget that our children’s faith must be exactly their faith. Further, we must help them understand that their faith cannot be founded on philosophy. Philosophies come, and philosophies go. After all, philosophy is nothing more than a thought or an idea; philosophy has less consistency than a mist, less substance than a vapor.
Further still, we must admit that neither a religious institution nor a religious leader can be the foundation for their faith. Faith must be built on the rock that Jesus referred to when He commended Peter’s profession of faith and changed his name from Simon to Peter. It was there in Matthew 16:18 that Jesus assured us that He would build His church, not on Peter, but on what Peter had professed, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus went on to say that the gates of hell could not withstand its advance. That’s the rock on which we stand, and on which our children need to stand. The rock on which the church is built (stanza 1 in Grundtvig’s hymn) is Jesus Himself.
The driving imagery of Grundtvig’s hymn is a great reassurance for us today, when evangelical Christianity continues to be assaulted from so many angles. The church of Jesus Christ will survive all those challenges, and will stand at the last day as the one and only institution that will endure forever. In fact, it will emerge on the last day as more beautiful and glorious than ever! What a privilege that we, the elect bride of Christ, have been sovereignly chosen to be a part of that glorious body of Christ!
This has proven to be such an enduring hymn, it is not surprising that there have been a number of translations from the original Danish text. Here are stanzas that are often found in hymnals today. The text is not addressed to God as a statement of praise or in the form of a prayer. Instead it is a proclamation addressed to everyone, including the singer him/herself. It is a blessing for the Lord to hear us affirm in His presence, and a strengthening of our own faith as we sing.
Stanza 1 proclaims that the church is built on a strong foundation. Although individual churches may struggle, even crumble, the mission and work of the church continues. Grundtvig had seen steeples fall and had seen spires crumble, as the Copenhagen cathedral was burned to the ground in 1807. All of us have seen such tragedies in our own experience. Sometimes that has happened literally as bombs fell during war or where persecution has demolished established church buildings. But it has also happened where hostile worldviews have attacked the doctrines of Christianity, replacing them with either liberal perversions of Christianity or the tenets of secular humanism. The bells that still chime come from the Savior who promised that His church would endure. As an example, how wonderful to hear of many of “the young and old” who are turning to Christ on liberal university campuses and in materialistic cultures.
Built on the Rock the Church doth 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,
Calling the souls of men distressed,
Longing for life everlasting.
Stanza 2 proclaims that while God dwells with us in our congregational buildings, God also dwells in heaven in His glorious celestial temple. How incredible that Jesus, who became a true human being in His incarnation, also dwells within something far greater than any earthly temple or church building: within us! At the same time that our risen Savior is dwelling in heaven above, He has also deigned to abide with us and to dwell in us, “making our bodies His temple.”
Surely in temples made with hands,
God, the Most High, is not dwelling,
High in the heav’ns His temple stands,
All earthly temples excelling;
Yet He who dwells in Heav’n above
Deigns to abide with us in love,
Making our bodies His temple.
Stanza 3 proclaims that we, in whose hearts Jesus dwells by faith, have therefore become temples, as 1 Peter 2:5 calls us, God’s house of living stones, “built for His own habitation.” As this is true for each of us individually, with Jesus filling our hearts, it is also true corporately wherever two or three have gathered in His name (Matthew 18:20). He is there “in their midst,” bringing blessings based on grace, not merit.
We are God’s house of living stones,
Built for His own habitation;
He fills our hearts, His humble thrones,
Granting us life and salvation;
Were two or three to seek His face,
He in their midst would show His grace,
Blessings upon them bestowing.
Stanza 4 proclaims that as we continue to build churches as structures for worship, prayer, praise, beauty and blessing, it is there that we renew our covenant and experience salvation and mercy from His hand. This is where we meet to lift up His name in praise, where we gather to study His Word and grow in our knowledge and appreciation of Him and His work.
Yet in this house, an earthly frame,
Jesus His children is blessing;
Higher we come to praise His name,
Faith in our Savior confessing.
Jesus to us His Spirit sent,
Making with us His covenant,
Granting His children the kingdom.
Stanza 5 proclaims that as we gather in these ways, we are actually meeting with our King, however small and insignificant our church structure may be. Even lower is our own person, the lowest of dwellings, in which He condescends to dwell. The presence of His Spirit in our hearts “doth hallow the temple,” as our bodies have become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). As an aside, how sad to see beautiful church buildings and professing Christians who have so seriously departed from orthodox teachings of the faith as to no longer have the right to claim to be Christian, having become empty shells, where the name Ichabod (“the glory has departed”) is their true character.
Now we may gather with our King
E’en in the lowest dwelling;
Praises to Him we there may bring,
His wondrous mercy forthtelling.
Jesus His grace to us accords,
Spirit and life are all His words;
His truth doth hallow the temple.
Stanza 6 changes from proclamation addressed to ourselves and those with us, to conclude with a prayer to the Lord Himself, asking that He would keep the church and our churches as places of faithful belief in and obedience to our King. As church bells ring, may they be blessed as instruments in God’s hands, calling people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus. This final stanza is almost a benediction, expressing the hope that many will be enabled to claim the promise Jesus made, that “I know My own, Mine own know Me” (John 10:14). And with it comes the promise that we, not the world, will see His face, and we can live each day with the assurance that He will leave His peace with us always.
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.”
The KIRKEN tune was composed by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman (1812-1887) specifically for this text. It was his first hymn tune, and was first published in Wilhelm Wexels’ “Christelige Psalmer.” He was born in Trondheim, Norway, the seventh of ten children, and the son of a concert pianist. In 1833 he was sent to Oslo to take his final exams and then studied theology at the university. In 1839, Lindeman succeeded his elder brother, Jacob Andreas Lindeman (1805–1846), as cantor and organist of the Oslo Cathedral, a position he held for 48 years until his death.
In 1848, he applied for a university grant to support a trip in the hill country in order to record folk melodies. Later he made two collecting trips. In all, he collected about 3,000 melodies and lyrics. He published a collection of Norwegian mountain melodies in twelve volumes during 1853-1863. When in 1871, the major new organ in London’s Royal Albert Hall was inaugurated, Lindeman was invited to perform, along with other noted organists, including Anton Bruckner and Camille Saints-Saëns. Lindeman was appointed Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1870. In 1873, he was invited to write music for the coronation in Trondheim of King Oscar II of Sweden and Queen Sophie. In 1876, he wrote a cantata for the inauguration of Bygdøy chapel. In 1883, together with his son Peter, he started the Organist School in Oslo. The Conservatory was in operation until 1973, when the Norwegian Academy of Music was established. To honor the memory of the Lindeman family the biggest concert hall at the Academy is named the Lindeman Hall. Ludvig Mathias Lindeman died in Oslo at 75 years of age. He was buried at Oslo Cathedral and in 1912, a bust of him was erected at the church.
The tune is a strong, classic German hymn tune with many quick chord changes, on nearly every melody note. The rich harmony and frequent chord changes make this a difficult hymn for guitarists. The bass line often takes the character of a second melody as it provides a strong foundation for the harmony. The second and third phrases make a brief move to the relative major key of E-flat, but both quickly return to the key of C minor. The melody makes use of the classic arch structure for each phrase, rising to a high point and falling to the close.
Here is a link to the hymn as sung by a Lutheran church choir in Oregon.