My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less

This page includes a lyric video, history, sheet music, and other resources for the classic hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (The Solid Rock).” Enjoy!

Enjoy this You Tube video, performed by Buller, Balzer and Aichele, with lyrics for “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.”

History of “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”

Words (c.1834) by Edward Mote (1797-1874)

Edward Mote was born in London England in 1797. As a teenager, he came to faith through the preaching of John Hyatt, a gifted evangelical preacher who was often compared to George Whitefield (a driving influence in the Great Awakening). Edward spent his early career in the cabinetry business but devoted his free time to ministry. He wrote over 100 hymns, one of which is “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less,” and published them in an 1836 collection called Hymns of Praise.

Edward submitted an account to The Gospel Herald on the writing of his most famous hymn. He explained that the chorus was conceived as he was walking up Holborn Hill in London. Four of the verses were completed that day, and he had the opportunity to share them with a friend, Mr. King, and his dying wife. The verses so moved Mrs. King that her husband asked for a copy of them. Edward went home and completed the final two verses by fireside. He said that since the “verses so met the dying woman’s case, my attention to them was the more arrested.”¹ Edward had a thousand copies of the final hymn printed, and he submitted one to Spiritual Magazine without a signature. The hymn appeared anonymously in an 1836 hymn book and was later attributed erroneously to the editor, Mr. Rees. Edward provided the history of his hymn, in part, to shield himself from “the charge of stealth” (since he had published the hymn in his name in his 1836 hymnal).²

In 1852, at the age of 55, Edward finally entered full-time ministry. He became the pastor of a Baptist church in Sussex where he preached for over 20 years and was much loved. Because Edward had helped to secure the building for the church, the members offered to give him the deed to the property. Edward declined the gift saying, “I do not want the chapel, I only want the pulpit; and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that.”³ Edward faithfully preached the gospel until 1873 when his failing health required him to resign. He died the following year and was buried in the churchyard.

Tune (1863) “Solid Rock” by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816-1868)

William Bradbury wrote the tune “Solid Rock” specifically for the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.” He published it in his Devotional Hymn and Tune Book in 1863.

Because William composed so many of the songs featured on this site, there is a separate page for the Biography of William Bradbury.

Additional Resources for “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”:

Sheet Music (PDF Compliments of Hymnary.org)

Guitar Chords (Links to Ultimate Guitar)

Visit Hymnary.org or Hymn Time.com for more on this hymn.

See our Hymn of the Week page for a list of the hymns that are included on this site.

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Sources:

¹ Julian, John, editor. Dictionary of Hymnology. Kregel Publications, 1985 (republished 1907 edition), p. 771.
² Ibid.
³ Reynolds, William Jensen. Hymns of Our Faith: A Handbook for the Baptist Hymnal. Broadman Press, 1964, pp. 366.