A popular hymn declaring the solid, unshakable foundation for the Christian's hope, "The Solid Rock" was penned by Edward Mote in 1834 and put to music in 1863 by composer William Bradbury.
Edward Mote
Edward Mote was born in London in 1797. His parents managed a London pub and left Edward much to his own devices. "My Sundays were spent in the streets," said Edward of his younger years. "So ignorant was I that I did not know that there was a God."
Young Edward took up an apprenticeship with a cabinetmaker, and at sixteen his master took him to hear the preaching of Tottenham Court Chapel's John Hyatt. This experience would change Mote's life, for it was here that he dedicated himself to Jesus Christ.
A cabinetmaker by profession for thirty-seven years, when he was fifty-five, Mote became pastor of a Baptist church, which he helped to establish, in Horsham, Sussex. When offered the title to the church building by the grateful parishioners, Pastor Mote said, "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 Mote stepped down from his position at the Horsham Baptist church in 1873 when his health declined. He died the next year at seventy-seven years of age, having written over one hundred hymns during his lifetime.
Writing the Hymn
Mote originally published the hymn now known as "The Solid Rock" anonymously, titling it "The Immutable Basis of a Sinner's Hope." He then included it, under his own name, in an 1836 collection entitled Hymns of Praise.
Due to the initial anonymity which raised questions regarding the hymn's true authorship, Mote sent a letter to the editor of the Gospel Herald assuring its readers that he was the hymn's author, and explaining how and when he wrote it.
As he wrote in his letter, Mote penned the words to "The Solid Rock" while he was still working as a cabinetmaker. The words of the refrain came into his mind as he was on his way to work one morning in 1834, and four verses followed that very same day.
The following Sunday, Mote went to visit Mrs. King, a very sick friend. Her husband informed Mote that he and his wife usually read a portion of scripture, prayed, and sang a hymn together, but he could not find his hymn book anywhere. Mote pulled from his pocket the verses he had recently written and offered to sing them with the Kings.
Mrs. King enjoyed the hymn so much and found it so applicable to her present situation that Mote left the words with her, then went home and composed two more verses. He visited her every day until she passed away not quite a week later.
William Bradbury
William Batchelder Bradbury was born in 1816 in York, Maine, to a mother and father both musically gifted. Having already learned the mechanics of a wide selection of instruments, he moved to Boston and began studying the organ. In 1840 he took up teaching music in New York. He studied music more in depth in Germany from 1847 to 1854, then returned to New York.
Bradbury published a large number of musical collections for schools and choirs and composed the music to quite a few well-known Christian hymns. One of these hymns was "The Solid Rock, set to Bradbury's music in 1863. The music and lyrics first appeared together in Bradbury's own The Devotional Hymn and Tune Book, published in 1864.
Bradbury died in 1868.
"The Solid Rock"
"The Solid Rock" asserts that the only sure foundation for the singer's hope is Jesus. This theme, echoed throughout the hymn, is evident in the first stanza:
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.
The refrain goes on to further declare the steadfastness of Christ and the frailty of everything else by insisting that "On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;/ All other ground is sinking sand."
Christ the Rock
Edward Mote expressed in the words of this hymn his reliance on Christ alone: Christ his rock; his hope; his steadfast anchor; his righteousness. In the chaos of the world, when everything is shaken and nothing lasts, when even the strongest and sweetest foundations fail, Mote's verses testify to the unchanging power and grace of Christ, "The Solid Rock" who is, as Mote's epitaph reads, "All the sinner can need, and all the saint desire."
Courtesy www.suite101.com
THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING
There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above.
CHORUS
Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing, Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys, Sound of abundance of rain.
There shall be showers of blessing; Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing, Come, and now honor Thy Word.
There shall be showers of blessing: Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing, Now as on Jesus we call!
There shall be showers of blessing, If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing, If we let God have His way
Written in the 1800′s by Daniel Webster Whittle, this particular hymn is based upon the scripture found in Ezekiel 34:26-27 which reads “I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.” I was reminded of this song as we have had consistent rain in Cleveland, Tennessee over the past weekend.
Daniel Webster Whittle was named after the famous American politician – Daniel Webster. Whittle became a major in the Civil War, and was known as Major Whittle for the rest of his life. You will often times see this hymn written under one of his pseudonyms – El Nathan (kind of sounds like a tropical storm to me). The story of his conversion is a powerful one. Major Whittle lost his right arm in the Civil War and spent time as a prisoner of war. While recovering from wounds incurred during the war, he was in a hospital and came across a New Testament. Although he read it and was convicted by the words, he was unwilling to surrender his life to Christ. One night, an orderly woke him up and asked him to come and pray for a dying soldier. Whittle initially declined. The orderly told him that he thought he was a Christian because he saw him reading the Bible. Conviction set in and, Major Whittle agreed to go. Here’s his testimony about that incident in his own words:
“I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed earnestly for the boy. He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God’s promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead. A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God who used him to bring me to the Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ’s precious blood and find pardon. I hope to meet him in heaven.”
To me Daniel Whittle received showers of blessing in his life. The blessing of God’s word in the form of a New Testament. The blessing of the Lord orchestrating a powerful encounter in a military hospital. The blessing of being brought to the point where he was faced with death and the challenge of where his soul will spend eternity. And most importantly, he was showered with the blessing of God’s grace and forgiveness. What a powerful testimony!
Couple of comments on the lyrics:
“Sound of abundance of rain” – This particular phrasing is based upon the story of Elijah the prophet found in I Kings 18. The land was in drought. Elijah had challenged and mocked the prophets of Baal regarding the promise of God. During the midst of a drought, Elijah poured four barrels of water on the altar that he had prepared. God answered Elijah’s prayer, consumed the sacrifice and the wood, and the water. Shortly thereafter, Elijah told King Ahab that he heard the sound of abundance of rain. Elijah was a man of faith. He hadn’t seen a cloud. He hadn’t felt rain drops. He prayed, and prayed, and prayed – 7 times until the rain came. And when God sent the rain, it wasn’t just a brief rain, but an abundance of rain. God promises blessing in our lives. God sends blessings to us – showers of blessings. Material blessings. Spiritual blessings. Relationship blessings. The Word of God and the preached word. An abundance of blessings – pressed down, shaken together and running over.
“Mercy drops round us are falling” – Hosea 10:12 says “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” The Bible promises that the Lord will rain righteousness down for those that sow righteousness. For those that seek the Lord. I believe God is constantly raining drops of mercy around us. We should be looking for those drops of mercy. To be thankful for the little things God does in our lives everyday. Those little brief showers of His grace and mercy that remind us of how good our God is, and they should take us to a place of praise and thankfulness.
COURTESY www.hymnoftheweek.net
