The Solid Rock (My Hope is Built)

The Solid Rock (My Hope is Built)

WORDS BY REV. EDWARD MOTE (1834), MUSIC BY WILLIAM BRADBURY (1863), PUBLIC DOMAIN
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” – Matthew 7:24 (ESV)

This hymn is based on Matthew 7:24, the parable of the wise man who builds his house on the Rock. In this song, Christ is the “Rock,” the foundation of our hope. If our hope is in anything else, it is like a house built on the sand. Verse 1 uses the expression “I dare not trust the sweetest frame” which is an older phrase that means trusting in our own goodness, works, abilities, etc. (e.g. a frame of mind, or our own standing). The emphasis here being, we do not trust in ourselves, for our best isn’t good enough. We put our hope in what Christ has done. Verses 2 & 3 highlight our confidence in Christ in times of trial and distress, be it a “whelming flood” (an all-engulfing flood), when everything in our lives “gives way,” in times of “darkness,” or a “stormy gale.” In all of these situations, we stand on the “Solid Rock,” Jesus Christ, and look with anticipation, as verse 4 states, for the day of his return!

Written by Thomas Slawson
Courtesy of ThomasSlawson.com