Like the previous hymn this is one that I'm not sure how I am familiar with it, but I am. It's a fairly easy one to play on the piano, except for the two sharps. :-) Actually, two sharps really isn't that bad. This does have the slightest bit of a Utah reference ("stands will hills surrounded"), though one really should choose to see the symbolic part of being surrounded by an Almighty fortress that confounds our foes no matter how awful things could get (friends leaving, mothers abandoning). Which leads to that beautiful line "But no changes Can attend Jehovah's love." Brings to mind the time when Joseph was in Liberty Jail and the Lord tells him that though it seems all have left him, he isn't because the Savior is always there. Verse 3--marvelous!! The best part of the entire song. It is one that could go with a different, slower tune to really draw out its meaning. Looking at the hymn meters, I think Hymn #96 (Dearest Children, God is Near You) would do that. I may have to consider this for the choir!
From the history book
And, like the previous hymn, this was written by a man who likely never heard of the LDS Church in his lifetime. I need to stop being so quick to assume Utah references. ;-) He used scripture references of being protected by surrounding hills, yet was still a bit prophetic that the early Saints literally found that protection. The tune was first combined with the text in a hymnal published in 1883.
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