Rock of Ages

“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” –Nahum 1:7

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee . . ."

While visiting England one spring, we discovered, with the help of my father-in-law’s tour book, that we were staying just a few miles from the well-known “Rock of Ages.” I know most of the hymn by heart, but was surprised to learn of the actual place. We couldn’t resist a quick trip to see it.

In 1776, Augustus M. Toplady was traveling through a small canyon when, suddenly, he found himself caught in a deluge of rain. Augustus took shelter in a cleft of rock--a vertical crack in the canyon wall just big enough for a man to step inside, curving at the top to provide shelter below. (If you hold your right hand straight up in front of your face turned so that your thumb is closest to your nose, the shape of your hand with the natural curve of your fingers will look something like the crack in that rock. Imagine that Augustus is your thumb, standing straight up, sheltered by the rest of your hand.) While waiting for the rain to stop, Augustus recognized the similarity between God’s refuge and the rock’s and composed the famous hymn that we still sing today.

Augustus knew that God is the only shelter from the ultimate consequence of sin, eternal separation from God. We must trust Christ for salvation from this fate by stepping into the cleft of forgive-ness, provided by the cross. Once we take shelter there, in Christ, we must remain in Him through all of life. As storms of temptation, tests, and troubles pass over, God will shelter us with His good and faithful care.

Lord, thank You for the Cleft in the Rock that shelters me from life’s storms. Amen.