Change is one thing we can always count on in this world: ironically, the fact that nothing remains the same is completely reliable! It may not be a major problem for those more comfortable with routine change, but if you prefer consistency and order or have to rely on something or someone, it can be more challenging. Change hits us at all levels: our perfect hair or skin product gets discontinued, our longtime family doctor retires, or someone who held our family together suddenly gets sick or passes away, or a host of other possible scenarios. Over the past two years, we’ve experienced change “on steroids,” challenging any pre-pandemic illusions of being in control of anything. As a friend once said, “What do You want me to learn from this, God?”
In the scriptures, God opens our eyes to a rock-solid and unchanging eternal perspective, a supernatural dimension beyond our human understanding, and He invites us to see the “bigger picture” from His heavenly and infinite aerial view. When our literal and/or inner world feels like it is unraveling, Psalm 46:1 responds, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” In spite of constant changes and challenges, the Word of God says we can rely on Him: He is always present, our strength, and our place of safety. Though we may feel afraid, He reminds us that we can choose trust in Him over fear. A few verses later, we read “Be still and know that I am God…the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 57:1 carries a similar message: “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in You I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed.”
Drawing on several powerful scriptural truths, the hymn text of “The Solid Rock” was written by Edward Mote. He was born in London and, as a teenager, apprenticed with a cabinet maker who invited him to church, where he heard the gospel for the first time and committed his life to God. Some 20 years later, on the way to his cabinet shop one day in 1834, he wrote the words of this hymn’s refrain to express his thoughts on the “gracious experience of a Christian.” He completed four verses before the day was over and, after a friend’s dying wife found the hymn particularly encouraging, he added two additional verses within the week; all six have since been condensed into the four verses familiar to us. I love the way God just poured out this message of confidence and trust on such a simple, faithful, and receptive servant in the midst of his daily routine. Later, at age 55, God called him to pastor a Baptist church for the last 26 years of his life. In 1863, William Bradbury, an American church musician who had never met Edward Mote, set this text to the popular tune found in many hymnals. Bradbury, who also composed the tunes for “Jesus Loves Me,” “He Leadeth Me,” and “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” established singing schools in New York City and a piano-building business with his brother as well.
Though I chose to write an original tune for the verses and chorus of my own arrangement, you will hear Bradbury’s familiar melody in the instrumental background on the first, third, and final refrains. The fourth verse is transposed up one step, to match the text’s anticipation of Jesus’ victorious return, when all of our perseverance and hope will be fulfilled! This hymn reminds us that, as believers in Jesus, our hope is in Him, His blood, His righteousness, His Name, and His promises. We would be foolish to trust in anything less: everything else is like sinking sand in comparison to the solid rock we find in Him. This message speaks directly to the world’s constant changes: when we cannot see “His lovely face,” we can rest in “His unchanging grace.” “When all around my soul gives way,” when there is nothing else to hold onto, “He then is all my hope and stay,” He is our Anchor. Hebrews 6:18-20 says: “And now we have run into His heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness. This is where we find His strength and comfort, for he empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time – an unshakeable hope! We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God Himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us.” (The Passion Translation)
Above all else, this hymn conveys a strong message about building on solid ground rather than on sinking sand, which points to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus boldly challenges us to take action, to put His teachings into practice, to literally build our lives upon His words: “Everyone who hears My teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away.” (Matthew 7:24-27, The Passion Translation)
“Jesus, the Anointed One, is always the same – yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, The Passion Translation) Change is constant, but our God continues to invite us to walk with Him, to trust Him, to take refuge in Him: the only One who is eternally faithful and unchanging. What better decision than to build our lives on Him, the only true and sure Foundation? Wherever you find yourself, it is never too late to turn to Him and begin again. Anchor your life in Jesus, and with His help, build wisely on the solid foundation of His love and His perfect and complete sacrifice.
Many blessings to you!
("The Solid Rock" can be found on the album, "In God Alone")
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