The Solid Rock
“On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand” was a great beginning.
The Solid Rock
It seems like most of the hymns that I research have some kind of an interesting story that brought it to life. I rarely hear about a hymn-writer that just went to work day after day and poured out a bunch of great hymns for the world to share. But, that’s exactly what we have this morning.
Edward Mote came to faith at a young age, although he lived in a godless home. The Bible was strictly forbidden by his parents yet he came to faith and dedicated himself to serving God in his own way. He had a way with words and enjoyed writing songs.
He had been working on a song that wasn’t quite coming together. He wanted to express the “Gracious experience of a Christian” in some kind of a musical context. He had a nice chorus to work with but he struggled to fill out the verses:
“On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand” was a great beginning. As he applied himself to his song, a friend asked him to come and visit his sick and dying wife. Edward completed his tea, scribbled down four quick verses and made his way to his friend’s home.
His friend explained that his typical time with her was spent singing to her, reading scripture and praying but he could not find his hymnal.
Edward had a copy of his new hymn in his pocket. He opened it and he and his friends sang it for her together for the first time. It was a huge hit. She loved it and begged for a copy of her own so she could sing it herself.
Edward went home, added two more verses later that evening and hand wrote a copy for her. Encouraged by the response of his friends, he then printed a thousand copies for himself for distribution and the song grew in popularity. It is now one of the church’s greatest hymn, sung worldwide by countless churches.
