The Solid Rock

Another Sunday hymn coming to you ...

The Solid Rock
Edward Mote

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,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In ev'ry 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, O may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

Edward Mote was born in 1797 to poor, ungodly parents in London, England. The school he attended wouldn't allow a Bible to be seen, and his Sundays were spent on the streets. He grew up ignorant of God, and became a cabinetmaker. One day his master took him to hear John Hyatt and there he met Christ. His life was radically altered.

When he was fifty-five, a church building was completed for his Baptist congregation due largely to his effort. The congregation offered him the deed out of gratitude, but he refused. "I do not want the chapel; I only want the pulpit, and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that." He served there for the next twenty-one years until he resigned due to poor health a year before his death.

This hymn was written in 1834 and titled, "The Gracious Experience of a Christian." It originally had six verses. The two omitted verses are interesting to note:

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.

(Why were these verses omitted? Are they too controversial? Do we not want to hear about hell or judgment?)

The hymn was released in 1836 under the name "The Immutable Basis of a Sinner's Hope." The hymn expresses the confidence found in the blood, righteousness, unchanging grace, promise, and covenant of Christ. What better place to hope! Surely all other ground is sinking sand.

The hymn points out a vital doctrine in Christianity. Most religions claim to attain heaven by good works. Even we Christians, while discounting their philosophy, view ourselves as more righteous individuals. Certainly we're valuable people. The claim of Scripture, however, is that there is none good, and that my only value, my only righteousness, my only hope lies in the person of Jesus Christ.

The fact is, although His death and resurrection made Jesus special, His sinless life made Him unique. The crucifixion would have been meaningless without His righteousness, for it was His righteousness that qualified Him to pay for my sin. Our hope, then rests solely on Jesus' death in my place and the sinlessness that enabled it, that is, "Jesus' blood and righteousness." Nothing within any of us can add to or enable our forgiveness. No morality, no sacrifice, not anything will change that truth.

The refrain points to the only safe place to stand: "On Christ, the Solid Rock." The concept of Christ, the Rock, is a common one in Scripture ¹. It brings to mind some very clear pictures. His immutability, His faithfulness, His solidity, all this and more are represented in this image. It is upon this Rock that we are to build our house (Matt. 7:24-27). All other ground is sinking sand. Where do you "build your house?" Are you more at home in the truth of Scripture or the claims of today's thinking? Is, for instance, self-esteem and self-fulfillment a priority? Or is self-denial your preference? The two views are in direct contradiction. Which is yours? The church in America has, in many cases, strayed from the Rock and built on sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In ev'ry high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil.

The second verse deals with one of the difficult questions for Christians. Where is God when it hurts? How do we deal with trials and tribulations, when our very core of faith is assaulted? The hymn looks to the character of God Himself. "I rest on His unchanging grace." "My anchor holds within the veil." "Within the veil" refers to the holy of holies, the place in which God dwells. It is in the presence of God that peace occurs. Where is God when it hurts? Right beside me. How do I deal with trials? Resting in the proven faithfulness of God.

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.

In the book of Job, God allowed Satan to strip away all of Job's obvious support. With family, wealth, and health gone, Job was left with a wife who urged him to "curse God and die" and three "friends" who assured him that God only did this kind of thing to sinners. Now, God's ways are far above ours. His reasons may not be clear or simple (although they are always right). But one of His intents was to strip Job of all but dependence on Him. We see this as Job gears up for a case against God (Job 31:35-37) and then faces the inquisition to end all inquisitions (Job 38 41). Job ends in repentance (Job 42:1-6). This is God's aim. So says James (James 1:1 4). Our growth occurs in trials.

This is the same message in the third verse of this hymn. "When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay." This has always been God's plan our total dependence on Him. In the garden of Eden, we see God providing both of our necessities: significance and security. Man had a job to do (significance) in the dominion of the earth (Gen. 1:28). God provided for him (security) in this task (Gen. 1:29, 30). All of life is God's constant supply of security and significance. But our sin nature blinds us to both. So God is in the business of constantly stripping from us all but Himself. He alone is our hope. That's why we can stand on Christ, the Solid Rock.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

One leading complaint about the church is that it is full of hypocrites. This seems ludicrous at first glance since the prerequisite to coming to Christ is a recognition of sin. Churches are, essentially, a group of admitted losers. But a strange thing occurs thereafter. Somehow we become convinced that because we are saved, we are better. We are more obedient, more acceptable to God, more righteous. This is self righteousness, the miserable condition for which Christ lambasted the Pharisees (Matt. 23:1-36).

The last verse of this hymn holds the truth that corrects this problem. The fact is we possess no righteousness. There is no good in us (Romans 3:10-18). The righteousness required by God to enter His presence is provided by Christ alone. "Clothed in His righteousness alone." All my value, all my good, all my righteousness is a result -- a gift -- of Christ. Only His righteousness allows me to stand faultless. There is no other hope.

His blood, His righteousness, His faithfulness, His promise. He is my only hope. He is the Solid Rock. All other ground is sinking sand. Where is your footing? Do you trust your capabilities? Friends? Family? Or do you see Christ as your only hope? All other ground is sinking sand.

¹ There are over 20 references to God as the Rock in Scripture. See Gen. 49:24; Deut. 32:4; 32:15; 32:18; 32:30; 32:31; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:32, 47; 23:3; Psa. 18:31; 18:46; 19:14; 28:1; 42:9; 78:35; 89:26; 92:15; 95:1; 144:1; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Peter 2:8.