The story behind the hymn
Edward Mote was a London cabinet-maker who began composing this hymn on his walk to work, finishing four stanzas by the end of the day. He first sang it at the bedside of a dying friend's wife, and printed it under the title The Immutable Basis of a Sinner's Hope.
The hymn is a sustained contrast between two foundations: Christ the solid Rock, and everything else — sweet frames, pleasant experiences, human merit — which the refrain names simply as sinking sand.
It ends where Christian hope ends: standing faultless before the throne, dressed in his righteousness alone. Mote later became a pastor, but he is remembered for this one unshakeable hymn.
The lyrics
My hope is built on nothing lessThan 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.
When darkness veils His lovely face,I rest on His unchanging grace;In every high and stormy gale,My anchor holds within the veil.
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.
Public domain. Free to sing, copy, print, and share.
The Scripture behind it
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
The wise man built his house upon a rock — the hymn's parable.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Other foundation can no man lay.