"My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" By Edward Mote, 1979-1874. Baptist Pastor in England.
Lyrics:
1 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.
2 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]
3 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]
4 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]
Some parts of the hymn appears to have connection with a woman on a deathbed. And Bishop Bickersteth calls it a "grand hymn of faith." It certainly is, and I supposed it's good for funeral hymn.
Written in 1834. Sang most popular to the tune of Solid Rock by William Bradbury, 1816-1868. American. Shout out to Bradbury pianos. He went from Baptist to Presbyterian. He's most famous for the "Jesus Loves Me" tune.
I looked into this because it was played in church several weeks ago and I tried the piano myself using the Rejoice Hymns by Ron/Shelly Hamilton of the Baptist. This hymnbook has beautiful arrangement so I generally go to this hymnbook first for training.
Wikipedia mentioned Hillsong, so I looked:
I compared the original words with other versions. Hillsong turned the words "Solid Rock" into "Cornerstone".
I think Hillsong changed the lyrics to match their candy coating style. For the musical aesthetic of artistic literature rather than for the faith. Cornerstone just sounds nicer to them, the meaning of foundation is changed in Hillsong's chorus, while they still follow the same verses as the original.
Hillsong in verse 2: When darkness "seems" to hide His face...rather than the original When darkness veils his lovely face, suggests that Hillsong is aiming for a mental delusion correction rather than the real truth in hardship and the struggle to victory of it in Christ. Hence, a prosperity gospel aspect. To win without hardship.
And they removed the entire 3rd verse:
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.
Because it's not Hillsong's style to have any negativity and it's too much for them to alter: "whelming flood", "all around my soul gives way", oh so negative!
Music for the verses are similar style as the original Bradbury's tune. But in the Refrain, Hillsong couldn't make it sound triumphant enough as the original, it's probably too strong for their prom night for Jesus style. Their cheer has no edification for the singers nor listeners, it's not about standing on Christ the Rock, but just yay yay yay He is Lord of all.
The MELITA (by John Dykes) tune version however is not bad:
Melita (meaning Malta, where Paul escaped shipwreck) was the tune Dykes wrote for another hymn: Eternal Father, strong to save. The tune is suitable for seafarers and so became known as the Navy hymn. To stand strong in the stormy sea for God is near.
The Medley of "Solid Rock" & Keith Getty's "In Christ Alone" is much better:
The refrain of Solid Rock is used as a background to the main theme: In Christ Alone.
My source is mainly wikipedia and Hymnary.org so there is still room for expansion.