History Behind the Hymn

All information is from the book Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories by Robert J. Morgan.

Edward Mote was born in 1797, the son of poor innkeepers in London, England. Though Bibles weren’t allowed in his home, Edward somehow heard the gospel and came to Christ as a teenager. He also became a skilled carpenter, eventually establishing his own cabinet-making business.

One morning while heading to work, Edward began to write a hymn in his mind on the “Gracious Experience of a Christian”. The chorus of the hymn now known as “The Solid Rock” came to him on that walk to work, and by the end of that day he had written four verses.

The following Sunday, Edward met a man named King, who tnew him that his wife was extremely sick and asked Edward to come see them. He found that their usual tradition was to sing a hymn together, but no hymnbook could be found; Edward offered the verses in his pocket, and King’s wife enjoyed them so much that King requested a copy of Edward’s hymn to lay by her bedside. Edward obliged, finishing the hymn that night and taking a copy to the Kings, and printing and distributing a thousand more.

In 1852, Edward Mote left his life of carpentry to lead the Baptist Church in Horsham, Sussex. On his deathbed, after 21 years of pastoring the church, Edward Mote said, “I think I am going to heaven; yes, I am nearing port. The truths I have been preaching, I am now living upon and they’ll do very well to die upon. Ah! The precious blood.”