Author: The Solid Rock/My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
“My Sabbaths were spent in the streets at play. So ignorant was I that I did not know there was a God.”
If there ever was a person that could hide behind their upbringing and excuse their godlessness, it was Edward Mote. Born to tavern owners on January 21, 1797, Edward had this to say about his childhood:
“My parents having no fear of God, I went to a school where no Bible was allowed; so that I was totally ignorant of the word of life when I entered that place of worship; but though I knew not the letter of the law, the Holy Ghost brought the spiritual contents of it into my conscience that morning. For two years that dart was in my liver, till extracted by Calvary’s blood, under a sermon by Mr. Bennett, of Birmingham, who was on a visit to London, one Good Friday morning …” (Henry S. Burrage, Baptist Hymn Writers and Their Hymns, 1888)
He would also say that his parents often left him unattended to play in the streets while they managed the pub. The dysfunction at home, the culture of the tavern, and the inclinations of his unredeemed heart contributed to what Edward called an “unruly” life.
As a young man, Edward was apprenticed to a carpenter for the purpose of making cabinetry. During the week Edward would labor hard in the shop, but on Sundays the owner would take him to church. It was there that Edward fell under the influence of John Hyatt, at that time the pastor of Tottenham Court Road Chapel. Eventually, the young man submitted to the call of salvation and was baptized.
“During his apprenticeship, it is thought, he was in the habit of visiting several places of worship, since among his papers was found an account of his hearing, in 1813, to his eternal good, a somewhat celebrated preacher of that day. Rev. John Hyatt, one of Lady Huntingdon’s adherents, who at that time preached at Tottenham Court-road Chapel, and the Tabernacle, Moorfields. Not long after, he joined the church of which Alexander Fletcher, author of “Family Devotions,” was pastor; but not finding satisfaction in his ministry, he united with the church under the pastoral charge of Rev. John Bayley, by whom he was baptized November 1, 1815. After one or two other changes, he removed to Southwark, where he engaged in his business as a cabinet maker, at the same time employing his pen as a writer for the press.” (Henry S. Burrage, Baptist Hymn Writers and Their Hymns, 1888)
Edward in time came to own his own cabinetry shop, and it was on his way to work one morning that the words to the hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” began to coalesce in his mind. Before he reached the shop, the chorus had taken shape:
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
“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.’ 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).” (www.celebratingholidays.com)
As you can see, Edward’s new creation was first published anonymously in several hymn collections, but finally in the 1837 collection Hymns of Praise, A New Selection of Gospel Hymns, Combining All the Excellencies of our Spiritual Poets, with Many Originals his name was added under the hymn title “The Immutable Basis of a Sinner’s Hope.” The tune that we commonly use to sing his hymn (Solid Rock) was composed in 1863 by the famed musician William Bradbury specifically for Edward’s text.
Edward labored in London at his cabinet shop until age 55, at which time he became the pastor of Rehoboth Baptist Church in Sussex, England. While pastoring Rehoboth, the middle-aged preacher was so loved by his congregants that they attempted to give him the deed to the church property because he successfully secured for them a building to worship in. He refused the generous offer 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.” Edward pastored Rehoboth until resigning for health reasons in 1873. A year later the great servant of the Lord was laid to rest in the church cemetery.
Inside Rehoboth Baptist Church there hangs a memorial plaque that reads “In loving memory of Edward Mote, who fell asleep in Jesus November 13, 1874 age 77 years. For 26 years the beloved pastor of this church, peaching Jesus Christ and him crucified, as all sinners can need and all the Saint can desire. Author of the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less than Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness.”
