Wednesday, December 06, 2023

My hope is built

244 The Solid Rock. L. M. with 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.

Refrain:
   On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
   All other ground is sinking sand,
   All other ground is sinking sand.

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. [Refrain]

3 His oath, His covenant, His blood
   Support me in the whelming floods;
   When all around my soul gives way,
   He then is all my hope and stay. [Refrain]

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]
                         Edward Mote
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Interesting backstory on this hymn:

In the day I had four first verses complete, and wrote them off. On the Sabbath following I met brother King as I came out of Lisle Street Meeting . . . who informed me that his wife was very ill, and asked me to call and see her. I had an early tea, and called afterwards. He said that it was his usual custom to sing a hymn, read a portion, and engage in prayer, before he went to meeting. He looked for his hymnbook but could find it nowhere. I said, ‘I have some verses in my pocket; if he liked, we would sing them.' We did; and his wife enjoyed them so much, that after service he asked me, as a favour, to leave a copy of them for his wife. I went home, and by the fireside composed the last two verses, wrote the whole off, and took them to sister King. . . 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.
So, it sounds like he actually wrote six verses. Most hymnals only print four of the verses (which is all I've ever seen). In fact, even the Cyberhymnal, which usually is the most complete version, only lists four verses. I haven't found a version with the six verses.
</idle musing>

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