Lord’s Day, Vol. 6 No. 27
The Solid Rock
– Revival Hymns and Chorus No. 317
Hymnologist suggests 1 Corinthians 3:11 as the basis for this hymn: 11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.(1 Cor. 3:11 KJV)
Bishop Bickersteth an outstanding hymnist, called it “a grand hymn of faith.” “The Solid Rock” as this hymn was called, was written in 1834 and first published anonymously in leaflet form and in various papers. In 1836 it appeared in Mr. Mote’s Hymns of Praise and was entitled “The Immutable Basis of a Sinner’s Hope.” When arguments began to arise about the authorship, Mr. Mote decided to acknowledge the words as his own.
The chorus and stanza 1 of the hymn came to Mr. Mote as he was on his way to work. He says, “I began to meditate on “the gracious experience of a Christian.” Soon the chorus, and then the first stanza, came into my mind. On the following Sunday, as I came out of Lisle Street meeting, Brother King invited me to his home to try to encourage his critically ill wife. I had early tea that day; then I went to the King’s home.
Mr King said, “Before I go to a meeting I always sing a hymn, read Scripture, and pray. Will you join me?” He searched in vain for a hymnbook. I said, “I have some verses in my pocket, Brother King. If you like, we can sing them.” Mrs King’s heart responded to the words, and Mr. King asked me to leave a copy with her. Back at home, I sat by the fireside, musing upon Mrs King’s reaction to the hymn; and soon the entire hymn was clear in my mind. I committed the words to paper, making a fresh copy for Mrs. King. Later the thought came to me that as these verses had met this dying woman’s needs, perhaps they would help someone else. So I had a thousand leaflets printed for distribution.”
Edward Mote was born in London on January 21, 1797. His background was far from Christian. So ignorant of spiritual matters was he that he did not even know that there was a God. His parents, keepers of a public house, sent their son to a school “where no Bible was allowed.” On Sundays he and other wayward boys of the neighbourhood played in the streets, giving no thought to church. When Edward became an apprentice to a cabinet maker, he found himself in regular attendance at church. In 1813, at the age of sixteen, Edward heard the noted Reverend John Hyatt at Tottenham Court Road Chapel. The sermon made him “think on his ways,” and two years later he yielded his heart to the Lord.
Shortly, Edward answered the call to preach and built a church. His congregation, through love, offered to deed the church to him as a gift. He answered, “I want not the church. I want only the pulpit. And if I cease to preach Christ, take even the pulpit from me.”
By his words “in every high and stormy gale,” Mote reminds himself and others that Christians are not exempt from trouble or temptation. But he went on to explain that “dressed in His righteousness alone” (the righteousness of Jesus Christ) we can stand faultless before the throne.”
Assurance and security were constant companions of Edward Mote. In November 1874, his health began to fail, but he felt a renewed confidence in the merit of the precious blood of Christ that was shed at Calvary and through which men become children of God. He said, “I think I am nearing Port. But the truths I have preached I am living upon, and they will do to die upon. Ah! the precious blood! The precious blood which takes away all my sins; it is this which makes peace with God.
On November 13, 1874, Edward Mote was called to be with the Lord he had served so well. His grieving church erected near his pulpit a memorial plaque that included the words, “For twenty-six years the beloved pastor of the church, preaching Christ and Him crucified, as all the sinner can need, and all the saint can desire.”
The tune SOLID ROCK was composed for this text in 1863 by William B. Bradbury (1816-1868), noted musician and promoter of musical instruction.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
-Edward Mote
[Extracted and Edited from Treasury of Great Hymns and their Stories by Guye Johnson]
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee