1
Strong are the walls around me,
That hold me all the day;
But they who thus have bound me,
Cannot keep God away:
My very dungeon walls are dear,
Because the God I love is here.
That hold me all the day;
But they who thus have bound me,
Cannot keep God away:
My very dungeon walls are dear,
Because the God I love is here.
2
They know, who thus oppress me,
’Tis hard to be alone;
But know not One can bless me,
Who comes through bars and stone;
He makes my dungeon’s darkness bright,
And fills my bosom with delight.
’Tis hard to be alone;
But know not One can bless me,
Who comes through bars and stone;
He makes my dungeon’s darkness bright,
And fills my bosom with delight.
3
Thy love, O God, restores me
From sighs and tears to praise;
And deep my soul adores Thee,
Nor thinks of time or place:
I ask no more, in good or ill,
But union with Thy holy will.
From sighs and tears to praise;
And deep my soul adores Thee,
Nor thinks of time or place:
I ask no more, in good or ill,
But union with Thy holy will.
4
’Tis that which makes my treasure,
’Tis that which brings my gain;
Converting woe to pleasure,
And reaping joy from pain.
Oh, ’tis enough, whate’er befall,
To know that God is All in all.
’Tis that which brings my gain;
Converting woe to pleasure,
And reaping joy from pain.
Oh, ’tis enough, whate’er befall,
To know that God is All in all.
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Philippines
This hymn reminds me of a portion from the 'life study of Genesis by Witness Lee':
If Joseph had not stayed in the dungeon for twelve years, he would not have been qualified to rule over the land of Egypt. For this, he had to be thirty years of age. Those twelve years in the dungeon accomplished a great deal for him, not through objective education, but through subjective suffering and discipline... Young people, no matter how long your trial may be, do not be disappointed. You need to recognize that your trial is of God. No one can be enthroned without being tried and tested.... If you seek the Lord, the Lord will put you into a dungeon. Perhaps all who are around you—your wife, your children, the elders, and the brothers and sisters—intend to respect you; however, whatever they do only serves to put you into a dungeon. We have nothing to say about this. Without the dungeon, we cannot ascend to the throne. Do not be a dungeon dropout; stay in the dungeon until you graduate and receive the crown. You need the last two years... We need to say, "Hallelujah for the dungeon! Although I have been here for ten years, I need to stay another two years." Again I say, do not drop out of the dungeon. Stay there and stay there gloriously, with praises to the Lord, not with the gnashing of teeth.
Anaheim, CA, United States
As I was praying to whom I could fellowship and pray with... feeling rather alone... I opened my hymnal to find a hymn for assurance. It was already opened to this hymn... what grace flowed to me... He always knows... He always comes... hallelujah... hallelujah.
Slovakia
I realized now that this hymn requires a price to pay for anyone to understand its meaning. There are depths of God which are not revealed so easily.
London, United Kingdom
The 'freedom' we think we have outside of Christ is a lie of the evil one and the deceiving world. To be captured by Christ, to be 'in Him' is the true and real freedom for the soul. Those who 'know' Him and therefore love Him, 'would not go out free', for we love, we love our master and will not go out free. Thank the Lord for the cage of His love.
Hightstown, NJ, United States
The preaching theme for our Sunday evening service on 17 February 2013 in our 173-year-old Fresh Ponds Chapel near Dayton, NJ, is on "Walls, Windows, and Doors in the Bible," with three of our members giving the homilies. We have some hymns that refer to windows and doors, but could not think of one that mentions "walls," so I typed this question into the search section wherein we discovered one not known to us: "Strong Are the Walls Around Me," which we plan on including in the meeting this Sunday. Thank you for this opportunity.
Aurora, CO, United States
A martyr's song, only a martyr can understand.