My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less Hymn Story
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
The hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” is one of the hymns that affirms Christ Jesus as the Lord who can never fail.
Specifically, the hymn portrays Jesus Christ as the solid rock that can never sink or fail.
The writer expresses this in the refrain, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,” which inspires every believer who truly believes in Jesus to proclaim their faith.
Every believer who truly depends on Jesus as the author and finisher of their faith will be reminded of this by the lyrics of this hymn.
The hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” symbolises Jesus as the solid rock who never fails or disappoints.
The text of the hymn is capable of lifting the spirits of believers and encouraging them to look more to Jesus as the solid rock that is dependable.
By deeply considering the lyrics, it can lift the spirit of believers to look up to that solid rock who never fails or changes.
The lyrics remind every believer that the Lord is too faithful to His promise to fail.
They also remind us that God’s love for every believer is always faithful and sure.
Who Wrote My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less Lyrics?
The author of this hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less,” is Pastor Edward Mote. He is a Baptist church minister and hymn writer, best known as the author of the hymn My hope is built on nothing less.
Life of Pastor Edward Mote
Pastor Edward Mote, the author of “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” was born on January 21st, 1797, on Upper Thames Street, London, England.
Despite a lack of records about his early life, it’s known that he learned cabinet making as an apprentice and attended various places of worship.
Initially a non-believer, Mote later converted to Christianity after hearing the gospel under the ministry of Rev. John Hyatt.
He then joined the congregation led by Alexander Fletcher, who wrote Family Devotions.
After leaving Fletcher’s ministry, Mote joined Rev. John Bayley’s church, where he was baptised and committed his life to Christ at the age of 18.
After his baptism, Mote continued his cabinet-making business while also writing for the press.
He was ordained as a pastor in 1852 and began preaching at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Horsham, Sussex.
His ministry was successful, and many people came to Christ through his sermons.
As Mote’s health declined, he resigned from his pastoral position in 1873 and passed away on November 13, 1874.
Throughout his life, he wrote numerous hymns, but “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” remains his most well-known work.
The Story Behind the Hymn My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
The hymn came as an inspiration to Edward Mote on his way to work one glorious day in 1834. Specifically, the thought to compose a hymn about the “Gracious experience of a Christian” came to him.
As he went up Holdborn, he had the word “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand” on his head. This was used for the chorus of the song.
In his words, Edward Mote said in The Gospel Herald, vol. 20 (1852), pp. 284–285
“One morning, as I went to labour, it came into my mind to write a 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.’
He later wrote the first four verses on that same day, before the day came to an end. Edward Mote kept the text of the hymn he wrote safely in his pocket.
Mote Sang My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less Hymn with His Friend
Subsequently, on the Sabbath that followed that day, he met his friend, who told him about his wife’s sickness.
Also, his friend asked him to visit his sick wife.
Afterward, he paid a visit to his friend, whose wife was sick. His friend, who loves to sing hymns before engaging in prayer, could not find his hymn book.
And because there was no hymn book to sing from at that moment, Mote asked if some text he recently wrote could be used instead. This is what he sang along with the couple.
After listening to the song by Edward Mote, his friend’s wife showed great admiration for the song. She immediately asked for a copy of the song.
When Edward Mote got home, he was inspired and added another two stanzas to the already-composed text. This makes all the stanzas, along with the chorus, six.
The Hymn Development
Subsequently, Edward Mote sent the text of the hymn to a publisher, saying, “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” (Gospel Herald, vol. 20).
The text of this beloved Christian hymn was first published in December 1824 in the Spiritual Magazine.
The text was published in six stanzas of six lines with the heading “The Immutable Basis of a Sinner’s Hope.”
The first line of the first printed text of the hymn as it appeared in the Spiritual Magazine, vol. 1, no. 8 (ca. Dec. 1824), started with different words.
Specifically, it started with “Not earth, nor hell my soul can move,” and not “My hope is built on nothing less” as we all know today.
Of course, the text was published without music, and it was not attributed to any author at the time.
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less In The Collection of Psalms and Hymns
Afterward, the hymn appeared unattributed in the 2nd edition of A Collection of Psalms and Hymns from Evangelical Authors (1826).
The book was compiled by John Rees and appeared in four stanzas.
However, the first line started with “My hope is built on nothing less” as we all know today.
Generally, some important changes were made to the first two stanzas of the hymn, and they were condensed to one.
Also, some lines of the original text were rephrased. For instance, the second line of the first published text was rephrased.
The text changed from “While I rest on unchanging Love” to “I rest on his unchanging grace” and moved from stanza one to two.
Nevertheless, this publication set the authoritative example for what later became the standard version of the hymn.
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less in the Hymns of Praise
Later in 1836, Edward Mote published approximately 100 of his hymns in a book he called Hymns of Praise.
The hymn “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand” appeared in its full form as “The Immutable Basis for a Sinner’s Hope.”
In this collection, Edward Mote claimed to be the author of the hymn.
The text of this hymn in Mote’s collection looks very similar to the one in the 1824 Spiritual Magazine publication.
In addition, both of them have the same heading.
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less in the Supplement to All Hymn Books
The text of the hymn also appeared in The Supplement to All Hymn Books by Jonathan Whittemore in 1850.
In particular, it appeared in four stanzas in line with the 1826 Collection of Psalms and Hymns by Evangelical Authors publication.
However, the final stanza here came with new alterations and was different from Rees’ 1826 version.
The text of the hymn as published by Whittemore was accredited to John Rees. This might be due to the hymn’s appearance in Ree’s 1826 collection.
However, Edward Mote defended his claim to be the author of the hymn in an 1852 letter he wrote to The Gospel Herald (pages 284–285).
Tune For the hymn My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
The solid rock is the most commonly used tune for this hymn: “My hope is built on nothing less.”
Specifically, the tune, Solid Rock, was composed by William Batchelder Bradbury for the My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less text.
The solid rock tune was published for the first time in 1864. In the same year, the tune was published in the Devotional Hymn and Tune Book.
The tune does indeed project the central idea of the text with its strong and confident quality. However, Bradbury wrote the tune for three stanzas.
Final Thought
Edward Mote wrote “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” in 1834, and even after almost two centuries, we still sing these words of hope and assurance. This hymn declares that we will hold on to our Saviour, who is the rock of our salvation, amidst all trials and storms.
The lyrics of the hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” speak of the unwavering hope that Christians have in Jesus Christ, who is likened to a solid rock that will never fail or disappoint.
The refrain, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand,” is perhaps the best-known part of the hymn.
This has become a symbol of the unshakeable faith that Christians have in their Saviour.
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