I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.
Today’s song is My Hope is Built on Nothing Less from 1834.
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 every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain]
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]
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]
It’s all about relying on Jesus rather than anything else, such as your own merits or mood or other people’s ideas or claims.
A popular modern song, Cornerstone is based on the hymn. But I prefer the old one 😀.
It’s based on the notion of Christ, and faith in Him, being like building your house on rock rather than sand. There’s a parable about that.
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
And a good many hymns touch on Jesus being a firm foundation. Here are four examples:
I sometimes think of an Old Testament verse, which discourages us from depending on our own merits.
Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
And then there’s the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisee appears to give credit to God, but he’s clearly congratulating himself for his own perceived goodness. And the tax collector, simply asks for God’s mercy. And it’s the latter who wins the approval of Jesus.
We should aim to be holy, but in this life, we’ll never reach a stage where we can be confident enough to feel that we deserve a place in heaven. If we do get to heaven, it’ll be all because of what Jesus did on the cross for us. And our role in it is to repent and believe. True faith will result in good works, but we look to Christ rather than good works for salvation.
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 