“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;”

Perhaps you are familiar with the old hymn, “Rock of Ages.”  The text speaks of God as our rock, our firm foundation, the source where we can find strength.  As scriptural as it sounds (and is), the term “rock of ages” is not actually found in the Bible.   Isaiah 26:4 comes awfully close, “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.”   And, 1 Corinthians 10:4 “and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”

The text of the hymn was written by Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778), based on a personal experience.   His story was told in a letter later published by Sir William Henry Wills in the London Times.   

“Toplady was one day overtaken by a thunderstorm in Burrington Coombe, on the edge of my property, Blagdon, a rocky glen running up into the heart of the Mendip range.  There, taking shelter between two massive piers of our native limestone rock, he penned the hymn, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.”

For me, the most meaningful stanza is the third which begins, “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy cross I cling.”   What a clear reminder of the humility with which we approach our Lord.  We can’t fulfill God’s demands with our labors.  We can’t atone for our sin, no matter how many tears we shed.  “Thou must save, and thou alone.”

The hymn familiar to us (#623 in our hymnal) was set to music by Thomas Hastings (1784-1872.)  It is sung for us here by the Antrim Mennonite Choir.

Judy