HIDE ME, ROCK OF AGES

As I look around me I realize so many people are crying on the inside.  Many are in despair, having no one to lean on.  They are smiling on the outside, but are crying on the inside.  Some have deep hurts from the past, and their struggles go on and on.  I see many as I minister in the nursing home.  Some think life just can’t get any worse.  You may not be in a nursing home situation, but you, too, think life has passed you by.  You may be in trying circumstances.  You may feel rejected and alone, alone in a “wilderness” place.  I want to lead you to the “Rock of Ages.”  He, Christ, is the only one you can turn to, and find shelter within the cleft of the rock, a shelter in the time of storm.

“Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.  From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” Psalm 61:1-2.

This Psalm was written by David when he was on the run from his son, Absalom.  Absalom had betrayed his own father and was intent on taking the throne.  In verse 2 it says he was “overwhelmed.”  He was weak and faint, maybe he was sick.  He had never felt such grief and sorrow in all his life.  His own beloved son had betrayed him. 

Your troubles today may be like “deep waters” and threaten to drown you.  David was helpless and weak, and he knew that God alone has rescued him from Saul (Psalms 18) and in Psalm 61, his very own son.  When you wish that God would quickly rescue you in the storm you are going through, remember that he will either deliver you the trial or be your support as you go through it.  Either way, His plan is best for you.  So ask God to help you, hold you steady against the winds of sorrow and lead you to the Rock that is higher than you.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel.  Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go.  “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:15-16

When the children of Israel disobeyed Him,  God disciplined with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  But He was merciful and provided water from a spiritual Rock that followed them wherever they went.  Water came only when the Rock was struck by Moses.  That Rock that was struck was Christ, our “Rock of Ages.”

“and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”  I Corinthians 10:4

And we remember Christ on the cross, and when the soldier pierced His side, blood and water flowed, it became a fountain, a cleansing stream for our sins, thirst quenching water for our souls, springing up into eternal life and our Rock is a refuge from the storms that come into our lives.  And we praise Him because He is now risen, our glorified Lord, who sits enthroned in the heavens.

Jesus is the Rock of our foundation.  He is the foundation upon which we build our “house.”  All other ground is “sinking sand” (Luke 6:48-49).  He’s the Rock of all ages.  He is the Rock of our Salvation (Psalm 89:6). If you build on this Rock, you won’t be shaken when the storms come.

“So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand while I pass by” Exodus 33:22

HE HIDETH MY SOUL

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me, he hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He taketh my burden away, He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved, He giveth me strength as my day.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, and filled with His fullness divine, I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God for such a Redeemer as mine.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky, His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I’ll shout with the millions on high.

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry thirsty land, He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.

Fanny J. Crosby

May you, just as David and Moses, find yourself hiding in the Rock that is higher than you, that Blessed Rock of Ages, and covered there by His precious nail scarred hand, in the Name of Jesus.

Pastor Sharon