My Hope is Built on Nothing Less — Faith

I get the feeling, the Lord would have me spend a few Wednesdays redirecting us towards Him. Yes, when we are studying His Scriptures we are directed towards Him, but in my experience nothing is quite remembered as well as a song. I grew up in a Bible church. We sang all the old hymns from Great is Thy Faithfulness and Amazing Grace to When Peace Like a River and The Old Rugged Cross. These old hymns became part of my foundation and reinforced everything I was learning in Sunday School, church services, Pioneer Girls and youth group.

Last week, the Lord brought to my mind, that old hymn, May the Mind of Christ My Savior, as a way to convey truth and encouragement during these difficult days we are walking in. This week, it seems that He has led me to another older hymn and I want to share that with you this week.

During this time it can be especially difficult to have hope. When we look at the long term ramifications of the virus and its ripple effects, things can be pretty daunting. When I went with my daughter to the grocery store today, I think we both felt tired and didn’t really want to put on a mask, but we did. It was weird, awkward and uncomfortable, but we kept them on, even though the majority of employees weren’t wearing them and many customers as well. When I got home I had to drag the groceries onto the back porch, where I then proceeded to spray and wipe down every item with a bleach solution before bringing it in the house. By the time I was done, I was emotionally and physically spent.

You know, we can all throw our little platitudes out there about how we are strong and we will get through this and so on, but this is real folks. People are dying. People are very, very sick and not a day goes by that I don’t wonder, is someone in my family going to get this; is someone I know and love going to die from this? I don’t know about you, but I am struggling to just do the tasks that need to be done, let alone, start a cleaning project or start prepping my flower beds. I try, but this is hard. I have loved ones and extended family who do not know Jesus and my heart aches for their salvation, so that, not only are they assured of eternity with Him, but of strength to get through hard times like these. Perhaps that is why Jesus brought this song to my mind yesterday.

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Lyrics by Edward Mote, Music by William Batchelder Bradbury

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.

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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
In Him, my righteousness, alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

I would like to look at each of these verses quickly and really think about what the author of these lyrics was saying.

Verse 1 - I wonder if the author was struggling with a difficult situation, because he starts this song off with this exclamation, “My hope is build on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” What our world is going through right now is the perfect example that we can put our hope in our money, in our strength, in our loved ones, in our jobs or in our futures, but in a matter of a few weeks, it can all be taken away. Why do we build hope on things that are so easily destroyed? We need to build our hope on the rock that is higher than I. We need to place our hope on Jesus Christ, His birth, life, death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. That is the only foundation that cannot be taken from us.

The author includes in this first verse the idea of trust. Again, what or who are we placing our trust in? Our good health? Gone. Our investments? Shaky. Our relatives and friends? Unavailable. The stark truth of this virus is, if you get it you go into quarantine. If you get worse, you go to the hospital. If you continue to go downhill, you are in ICU. In the end, if you die, the only people with you will be nurses, if even that. Not that they wouldn’t if they could, but we know our health care workers are barely keeping their heads above water when it comes to this disease. The only One we can trust to be there when we die is Jesus.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16 (NASB)

Verse 2- There are times in our lives that all seems hopeless. Even we as Christ followers are struggling to have hope during this dark time. It seems that darkness is hiding our Lord’s face and we are wondering where He is. This is why it is so important to know Him. I don’t mean knowing Him as a historical figure who went around saying a few good things. I am talking about really knowing Him, as in having a personal, intimate relationship with Him.

In the original Hebrew language the action of having sex with a person was described as “knowing” or “to know” them. The intimacy of the sexual act is the same intimacy with which we are to know our Savior. If you think that is weird or gross, then you have a little ways to go, to truly understand and put your trust in this one whom we call Lord.

The author of the song, knew during dark times he could “rest on His unchanging grace.” He also knew during the storms of life, and yes there will be plenty of storms, his anchor would hold. You see, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit do not change. They remain the same from the beginning of our time to the end of it. As we come to know Him more deeply, we realize life on this little jewel is only a piece of a much more amazing life we are meant to live: the life we are meant to live with Him.

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

— John 14:3 (NASB)

Verse 3 - “His oath, His covenant, His blood…” Note, it is not our oath, our covenant nor our blood. The faith that we have is not placed in ourselves, but in Jesus. Sure we can do many things in our own strength and I know there are many people who are getting through this storm maneuvering their own life boat, but it only takes one wave to turn our little boats upside down into shark infested, storm ridden seas. It is this inevitable possibility that makes placing our faith in Him so important.

The author goes on to say, “When all around my soul gives way…” Have you felt that way? Like the very ground underneath your feet is moving and rolling. I have never experienced an earthquake, but I imagine it is an indescribable experience. That is how I would describe my feelings a few years ago, when going through a particularly hard time. Life suddenly looked very different from what I thought it was going to. My being hurt to the very core of my soul, so when the song writer talks about the world around his soul giving way and Jesus being His hope and stay, I get it.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”

— Ephesians 1:7 (NASB)

Verse 4 - This culminating verse gives us hope and victory in our Lord Jesus Christ. When that trumpet sounds, if we are found to be in Him, if we have believed in who Jesus said He was and in what He did, then in His righteous we will be able to stand before the throne of God.

With the uncertainty of life ahead, don’t you want to be sure of life in Him?

Here is a great version of the hymn. Enjoy!

Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who have served our country in the armed forces. It is also a day to remember those who have gone on before us, our loved ones and friends, whose lives were ended by age, disease or accidents. I am thankful for the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom and security.

My husband and I were able to get away for two nights after our "kidney stone vacation cancellation" occurrence this past week. We went somewhere just a couple of hours away and had a fun, relaxing time. On part of the trip, rather than take the usual interstate highways, we traveled a few country roads which meandered through smaller communities and old farming towns.

Each town and community are unique. Some are still bustling, with streets lined with pretty houses, lawns freshly manicured and flowers blooming. They have downtowns that are full of cars, with people milling about in cute little shops, pizza joints and coffee houses. Driving through these villages you get a life vibe, like the whole town cares about and contributes to the upkeep and betterment of the community. Others, however, feel dead. As you drive through these places you might see a few houses where the lawns are mowed and flowers grace the porch, but many are untended. The downtowns of these communities, while boasting businesses of the past, are now mostly empty except for an occasional gas station or quickie mart.

When we drive through this sort of community I always feel sad. My mind begins to wonder, who were the people that made up this community in the past? What were the businesses that used to call this town home? What happened to cause the eventual end of those businesses and why didn't new businesses move in? Who used to occupy those big old houses that now stand empty? Or if they are still lived in, what occurred in their lives that made them lose hope? Are they too old to properly care for their homes? Do they have some sort of debilitating disease that keeps them from getting out to mow their lawn? Did their lawn mower die and they don't have any money to replace it? Maybe life has thrown them too many curve balls and they have just giving up!

Suddenly, I realized, I am on the cusp of becoming one of those people. I'm tired! I'm getting older! I am, in some ways, becoming, not only like the people who live in those houses, but like the very structure itself; used up, in disrepair and feeling rather empty. I keep asking myself, what is wrong with me? Life has thrown an inordinate amount of curve balls my way. Maybe I have lost hope. But, I can't seem to get the words of that hymn out of my mind:

“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.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.”

— My Hope is Build on Nothing Less - Edward Mote - 1834

When Jesus came into my life, he became the owner of this abode. It was His blood and His righteousness that bought me and it is His grace and His Spirit that enables me to live in this world. Just as if a person of unlimited resources could go into one of those old, abandoned houses and refurbish it, Christ came into my life, not to let me get run down, worn out and empty, but to repaint, rebuild and fill up. It is on this solid rock of Jesus that I must stand. If I try to build my hope on anything else, I will become an old, rickety, empty house.

“When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain]”

— My Hope is Built on Nothing Less - Edward Mote - 1834

Even when things seem their very darkest and those curve balls keep coming and coming, I still can stand on Him. I rest, not in what I can see right now, but what I already know to be true of Christ through his Spirit and His word. He does not change. He doesn't get tired, or worn out or depressed. He is our anchor, always and forever!

“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. [Refrain]”

— My Hope is Build on Nothing Less - Edward Mote - 1834

His oath, His covenant, His blood....not mine. We give ourselves too much credit. Every commercial you see, every song you hear, everything we read, tells us, "You can do it! You deserve it! You can win! If you just....." It wears me out and that is precisely where Christ can begin to do His work. Some of the greatest saints of the past were those who appeared, from a worldly perspective, to be the weakest.

“but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,”

— I Corinthians 1:27 (NASB)

Leave it to God to switch things up! He's so good at that. Our human point of view would never think to use the foolish things of the world, or the weak things of the world. Our flesh is all about getting its own glory. I'm strong! I'm smart! I'm powerful! Not! But He is! Oh, the blessed peace and rest, to know that is true.

“When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne. [Refrain]”

— My Hope is Build on Nothing Less - Edward Mote - 1834

One day, this will be true. I will stand before His throne, faultless, because I stand on HIm alone. His blood and righteousness, not mine. Until that day, I am going to keep trying to let Him work in this old fixer upper. I want people to be able to look at me and see, maybe my porch is a little saggy and maybe my flower beds are not completely free of weeds, but that Jesus is working, always working to make me into something beautiful.

His Rock, My Foundation

An Old Fixer Upper!