Rock of Ages
History
There is a charming legend surrounding the writing of this hymn.
The Legend of Rock of Ages
As the story goes, Augustus Montague Toplady was walking on the road near the village of Somerset, in England, when a swift thunderstorm overtook him with thunderous lightning. With the torrential rains and violent weather surrounding him, he looked for any refuge nearby. He happened to be near Burrington Combe and found a massive rock with a cleft in which he could hide. As he took refuge in the broken rock, the words to this hymn flowed into his mind.
Though the story is charming and fun to think about, the evidence that this occurred is lacking.
In fact, most evidence points to the origin of this legend coming long after Toplady’s death.
Even so, the rock that is said to be the very shelter for Toplady is marked with a plaque and commemorated as being the very “Rock of Ages” which inspired the hymn.
Where did the hymn really come from?
As a teenager, Augustus Toplady was at a Methodist revival service in a barn in Ireland when he felt the Lord calling to him. He gave his life to Jesus and a call to ministry and sought to become a Methodist minister.
As he furthered his studies, he found himself far more in agreement with Calvinistic salvation theology than the Arminian stance held by Methodist leaders, John and Charles Wesley.
His adult years were marked by feuds with the Wesleys over the doctrine of salvation and election, sometimes taking unfortunately slanderous turns.
It seems far more likely that Toplady penned this hymn as a response to a hymn of the Wesleys, which appeared in the collection Hymns on the Lord’s Supper, which opens with “Rock of Israel, cleft for me.” Themes and language throughout that hymn, and indeed the entire collection, mirror the words that Toplady wrote—though Toplady’s hymn came decades after.
Parts of the hymn were first published in the periodical The Gospel Magazine in 1775, where Toplady was the third editor.
The Gospel Magazine is an English publication still in print today, continuing the work outlined in their original mission statement: “the uncompromising declaration of the Gospel of Free Grace, both in belief and in practice.” It’s so cool to me that this magazine is still in print today after hundreds of years and so many changes.
Tuberculosis claimed the life of Toplady at the young age of 38 just a few years after he published “Rock of Ages,” but this hymn keeps his legacy alive even today.
Devotion
It’s not a novel idea that when we face the storms of life, we should want to find shelter and rest in the presence of the Lord. In fact, He loves us so much that when we face those storms, His arms are ready and open to provide that comfort. When we think about the storms of life, we often think about external forces: trial, tribulation, hardship.
But there’s another twist to that idea that this hymn reinforces. Sometimes the storm we need shelter from is the turbulence of our own sin. Even in the first stanza, Toplady doesn’t cry out to hide in the Rock from an external force, but from the wrath of God because of sin. Faced with God’s goodness, our own sin condemns us.
When Moses asked to see the glory of God on the mountain, God promised that the fullness of His own goodness would pass over Moses. Here’s the catch: man is too sinful to look fully upon the pure face of God—that’s a death sentence.
So God places Moses inside—where else?—a cleft in a rock in order to protect him from God’s righteous retribution. The hand of God covered Moses and protected him from wrath. I find it interesting that the same hand that protects us from the trials and forces working against us in life is the same hand that protects us from God’s own justice.
The storms of life are plentiful and ever-present, but how often do we consider that our own sin and idolatry has caused many of those storms? It's easy to wonder why things never seem to go our way and simply blame everyone else.
The reality is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), so more than we need shelter from trial and tribulation, we need shelter from the result of our sin.
Where does that shelter come from? Only the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ.
There is nothing we can add to God’s righteousness and nothing we can bring to our own salvation. It is through Jesus alone, and the blood that flowed on the cross. Reflect on the storms and trials you face—let us give those struggles to God, especially when those storms result from our own disobedience.
Let us hide ourselves in the Rock cleft for our shelter, the Rock that is Christ.
Related Scripture
Exodus 33:18-23; Psalm 18:1-6; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6
Rock of Ages lyrics
Rock of Ages, cleft for me
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
