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.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
—Edward Mote, 1834
The Dead Sea is truly the embodiment of two distinct contrasts of nature. On one side is the incredible buoyancy of the water itself, so concentrated with salt that swimming in it provides the odd sensation of what it must feel like to be a fishing bobber. The water literally thrusts your body towards the surface. Treading water is unnecessary in the Dead Sea.
But in contrast to that the sea floor is so thick, so murky, and so deep that when you are shallow enough to stand upright your feet sink deep into the muck. Walking is more than an effort—it’s a workout. You’re slowly pulling one foot up through the relentless grip of the mud while the other sinks even deeper with the shifting of weight.
Strangely enough this experience has given me a fresh appreciation for this grand hymn. Hope–real hope, lasting, even eternal, hope, is found in the things you can count on. It doesn’t take too much honest reflection to admit there is little in this world you can “take to the bank” (you can’t even count on them these days). And as we experience more and more of this world we begin to understand, and even empathize with, the spirit of hopelessness that grips so many people’s lives. That’s the mud, that’s the muck, and the longer we stand within that hopelessness the more and more it grips us making it increasingly difficult to pull our way out.
We’ve all been there, feet of clay pressed down by disappointment and heartache, an increasing weight upon our shoulders. Not unlike the Dead Sea floor, we feel sucked further into the grip of hopelessness.
So what do I learn from this analogy? Simply put, hope is dependent upon where I place my feet. Placed upon the surety of Christ and what He has accomplished for me is where I place my hope. Not that the occasional tugging of hopelessness doesn’t press down on me on occasion, but ultimately it cannot, and will not, hold me. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” And you can take that to the bank. Just a thought.
