One of the challenges of the Christian faith is steadfastly and securely standing upon “Christ, the solid rock.” These words harken back to a familiar 19th century Church hymn. The hymn, “My Hope is Built” or “Solid Rock,” is as familiar a hymn about God’s grace as John Newton‘s “Amazing Grace.” It carries in its tune the hope of every Christian as well as the recognition of the trials every Christian faces.
The author of the hymn’s words is not a readily recognizable name. Reverend Edward Mote (1797 – 1874) was a Baptist minister in Horsham, Sussex, England from 1852 – 1873. He was not raised in a Christian home. He spent he early life running the streets and largely neglected as his parents ran a pub in London. In fact, his upbringing was so devoid of religious education or spiritual instruction that he claims no knowledge of God until he heard the Word of God for the first time and was baptized at age 18. After that, he was apprenticed as a cabinet maker and did well at that for 37 years, until he was called into ministry.
It was during his years as a cabinet maker that the words of this song came to him in 1834. He was on his way to way to work when he describes it this way in a letter to the Christian publication “The Gospel Herald”:
“One morning it came into my mind as I went to labour, to write an hymn on the ‘Gracious Experience of a Christian.’ As I went up Holborn I had the chorus,
‘On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.’In the day I had four first verses complete, and wrote them off. On the Sabbath following I met brother King as I came out of Lisle Street Meeting…who informed me that his wife was very ill, and asked me to call and see her. I had an early tea, and called afterwards. He said that it was his usual custom to sing a hymn, read a portion, and engage in prayer, before he went to meeting. He looked for his hymn-book but could find it nowhere. I said, ‘I have some verses in my pocket; if he liked, we would sing them.’ We did, and his wife enjoyed them so much, that after service he asked me, as a favour, to leave a copy of them for his wife.
I went home, and by the fireside composed the last two verses, wrote the whole off, and took them to sister King…As these verses so met the dying woman’s case, my attention to them was the more arrested, and I had a thousand printed for distribution. I sent one to the Spiritual Magazine, without my initials, which appeared some time after this. Brother Rees, of Crown Street, Soho, brought out an edition of hymns [1836], and this hymn was in it. David Denham introduced it [1837] with Rees’ name, and others after…Your inserting this brief outline may in future shield me from the charge of stealth, and be a vindication of truthfulness in my connection with the Church of God.” (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/myhopeis.htm)
Thankfully, the original title he gave it – “The Immutable Basis of a Sinner’s Hope” – did not last as long as the enduring words did for our benefit. The tune that most of us are familiar with was given to it by William B. Bradbury in 1863. So, it would be interesting to know to what tune it was sang before that time. In addition to the four stanzas we already sing, there are two more attributed to him:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
’Midst all the hell I feel within,
On His completed work I lean.I trust His righteous character
His council, promise, and His power;
His honor and His name’s at stake,
To save me from the burning lake.
I have often wondered who gets to edit or redact the hymns that are handed down to us. Many of the ancient hymns of the church have many more stanzas than what we know or acknowledge. It is a curious piece of ecclesial musicology that eludes me. I am sure one day I will research and sort it out to see if the decision were based upon practical musical qualities or theology.
Chichen Itza, Mexico, Summer 2003 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
That aside, my spiritual journey embraces the personal and private struggles of this great hymn. I am too acquainted and familiar with times when “darkness veils His lovely face.” I have faced “the whelming flood.” And I can too well relate to the words not included in our hymnals: “’Midst all the hell I feel within.”
In other words, in all honesty I have more often than not stood on the “other ground” – “the sinking sand.” I have been to the edge of doubt and peered into unbelief or disbelief. Whether due to circumstances resulting from my control or because of my lack of control, these painful experiences have led me too often to the place of spiritually shaky ground. Like a violent earthquake, when the ground, which appeared so solid beneath you, begins to move, you question the reality and solidity of everything in your life. It is a time, truly, when “when all around my soul gives way.” These terrible undulations of the soul shake everything that is not secure.
Suddenly, my faith in my faith – or faith in my ability to believe – is no longer enough. I need something more. I need someone outside of my shaken reality to help me up off the floor. I need something more secure than confidence in my own ability to maintain a faith system. Otherwise, I remain on “the other ground” – a quick sand that sinks me deeper in my own shaken and insecure knowledge and experiences of reality.
This “someone outside my shaken reality” and this “something more secure” is what captured the heart of Edward Mote. It is a faith I aspire to in my spiritual journey. Mote points me to “His righteous character” and “His completed work.” My spiritual journey is no longer about me and my ability to make it through this life with all its struggles and disappointments and failures.
There are no trophies that I will present to him that will make me worthy of his salvation or his heaven. I will not stand before his throne with any confidence. It is all about, and in the end will be all about, “His oath, His covenant, His blood.” It is what the Heavenly Father did for me through Christ’s cross and resurrection. It is his work, not mine. This, finally, is the anchor for my soul and my faith. Now, I just need the Lord’s help to stay off the “other ground.”
©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
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