Hymns of the Church – My hope is built on nothing less – 29 February 2024, Anno Domini

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HEREFORE whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will like him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)

 

            This hymn is much older than the impression it gives in its casual, but profound, meanings. Composed in 1822 by Edward Mote (1797-1874), It is a hymn which points to the anchor of Hope we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. The tune is SOLID ROCK by Edward Bradbury in 1863.

 

My hope is built on nothing less

 

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 every high and stormy gale,

my anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain:

 

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

Refrain:

 

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. 

Refrain:

 

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. Verily ‘nothing less’ nor ‘nothing more’ than the blood sacrifice of our  be saved, and certainly our trust should be fixed on Christ and upon no mortal.

 

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. [Refrain] In is in the darkest hours that His Presence may be most keenly felt. This is because there is little of the world to distract us from being stayed on Him and His Word. The Anchor that holds within the veil is that Holiest of Holies made accessible by His death on the cross when that veil was torn from top to bottom as Jesus became our High Priest and only Intercessor with the Father. His grace is unchanging.

 

3 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. [Refrain] When the rolling billows burst upon us past the shoals, we are swamped in despair; but then comes the strong arm of Christ to lift our fearful souls from the deep. He knows our frame and He knows what limits we can bear. His oath is the only covenant of import to us: “He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

 

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. [Refrain] When the angelic groomsmen sounds the trumpet for the Marriage Feast, we must have our lamps trimmed and full of the oil of the Holy Spirit, elase we may be cast away from entrance. Being in Christ is an assurance of security and being imputed with His righteousness. There can no evil, sin, or death exist in Christ who is our eternal abode.

 

Refrain 

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand. Christ is that huge, immovable Rock that cannot be moved. When we stand on the Jordan Banks at the latter end of our days, our feet shall not falter or stumble if that rock is our support. But the sands of unbelief and unrighteousness will offer only the sinking gloom of the eternal Deep.