Hymnal Friday: My Hope is Built

Written by  Rehoboth Baptist Church Pastor Edward Mote, a pastor at  in Horsham, West Sussex in 1834.  

The hymn refers to the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders and builds around the metaphor of Christ as a rock with a firm basis in Scripture (1 Corinthians 10:4).

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

The first stanza declare's God's grace; stanzas 2 and 3 concern the application of that grace in times of trouble. In the final stanza, Mote brings his hymn full circle with the ultimate realization of God's grace.

The hymn became very popular and has been subject of many interpretations and covers.

Enjoy the hymn below:

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.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood

Support me in the whelming flood;

When every earthly prop gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found,

Clothed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.