1. 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. 2. 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. 3. His oath, His covenant, His blood Supports me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. 4. 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. Chorus: On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
Lyrics: Edward Mote
Music:
William Batchelder Bradbury
Tune: SOLID ROCK
Meter: L.M. with Refrain
Edward Mote, 1797–1874
Edward Mote knew nothing about God or the Bible as he grew up in London, England, the child of poor innkeepers. At the age of sixteen he was genuinely converted to Christ. Mote later settled in a suburb of London where he became known as a successful cabinet maker and a devoted church layman.
After a time, a Baptist chapel was built in Horsham, Sussex, England, largely because of Edward’s efforts. The grateful church members offered him the deed to the property. He refused it, saying, “I only want the pulpit, and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that.” Here Mote ministered faithfully until forced to resign because of poor health one year before his death. He commented, “The truths I have been preaching, I am now living upon and they’ll do very well to die upon.”
Edward Mote wrote more than 150 hymn texts. In 1836 he published a collection titled Hymns of Praise and included “The Solid Rock” in it.