“Singing the Faith: Rock of Ages”
Exodus 33:18-23

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost—October 9, 2016

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This morning we continue our fall sermon series “Singing the Faith,” looking at the origin and meaning of favorite hymns.

Most of us know the background and meaning of our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” how it was written during a nighttime battle, and refers to a large United States flag flying over a fort under assault.  But, for those from other countries who don’t know that background, the words to our national anthem seem incomprehensible:

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting through air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

If you don’t know the story, those words don’t make any sense.

In surveys of favorite hymns, the hymn “Rock of Ages” is always included the top ten.  I’d say “Rock of Ages” has been sung at about 25% of the funerals I’ve conducted, and that phrase “Rock of Ages” is probably inscribed on quite a few tombstones out in our cemetery.  It’s always included in every hymnal of every denomination and has been translated around the world into dozens of languages.  An internet search for “Rock of Ages” returns over 6 million results.

But, despite being so beloved and well-known, I’d say most people DON’T know the Bible story behind this hymn.  And, like the “Star Spangled Banner,” if you don’t know the story it really doesn’t make any sense.

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

What is the “Rock of Ages”?  What does it mean, “cleft for me” and “Let me hide myself in thee”?

The Biblical background of this hymn is found in today’s Old Testament Reading from the book of Exodus.  Moses said to the Lord, “Now show me your glory.”  Moses and the people of Israel saw the Lord in a number of different ways.  During the Exodus the Lord led them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  At Mt. Sinai he appeared in fire and smoke and lightning and thunder.  But, now, Moses boldly says, “I want to see your glory, not in any of these phenomena, but directly.  Now show me your glory.”

“And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’”

A nuclear explosion takes place when tiniest particles of matter collide.  The holiness of God and our sinfulness are like those particles.  If our sinfulness is exposed to God’s holiness it means our complete destruction.   As Martin Luther says about this passage, “Our sinful nature cannot bear even a small glimmer of God’s glory.”

“‘You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’  Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.’”

The word rock appears over 200 times in the Bible. Sometimes it refers to actual geological rocks, but mostly it is used symbolically, as a metaphor for God.  The other time a rock appears in the Exodus account is when Moses strikes a rock in the wilderness and water flows from it.  Paul explains in the New Testament, “That rock was Christ.”

It is these two symbolisms from Exodus that we find in the hymn “Rock of Ages.”  First, the CLEFT of a rock in which God hides Moses while he passes by in all his glory, so that Moses the sinner will not be destroyed by the radiating perfect holiness and glory of God.

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

Like Moses, we are sinners, because of our sin deserving destruction.  Like a nuclear explosion, if our sinfulness came into DIRECT contact with God’s holiness, it would mean our doom.  That is why “He came down to earth and was made man.”  Martin Luther explains, “The Son of God himself came down into the flesh and was made man . . . in order that we might have hope in his mercy and not be afraid of him as we would be afraid of his majesty, which our nature cannot bear. . . Therefore he assumed . . . a form like our own  . . . completely human. . .  He shows himself to us in a manner that we can grasp him.”  The Gospel of John puts it this way, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only-begotten Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

So, the rock in which the Lord hid Moses to protect him from destruction by the divine glory symbolizes Christ.  And, as Luther also explains, “The ‘clefts of the rock’ are the WOUNDS of Christ, cleft in his body, in which we find safety.”  In Christ, God himself gives you refuge and shields you from the wrath and punishment your sins deserve.  For, in Christ your sins are all forgiven.  As the Lord proclaims as he passes by Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  Those words are talking about YOU.  The Lord has had mercy and compassion on YOU, forgiving you all your sins because his own Son earned forgiveness for you.  You need not ever fear the anger or punishment or wrath of God, for God himself gives you refuge and shields you in the clefts of the rock, in the wounds of Christ.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed.

In the second line the hymn goes on to the second symbolism of a rock from the Exodus account, when Moses strikes a rock in the wilderness and water flows from it.  Paul says in the New Testament, “That rock was Christ.”  The hymn explains this symbolism of the water flowing from the rock points forward to our Lord on the cross, when his side was pierced and water and blood flowed forth.

Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power.

The water flowing from the rock, and the water and blood flowing from our Savior’s side, are symbolic of the Sacraments, Baptism symbolized by the water, and Communion symbolized by the blood.  Luther explains, “God said, ‘Man cannot see me and live.’ Therefore it was necessary for God to hide, cover, and conceal himself, thus enabling us to touch and apprehend him. He disguises himself  . . . in the Word . . . in Baptism, in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper . . .  Through them God deals with us in a way that we can comprehend.”

That is the deep significance of the hymn “Rock of Ages,” a meditation on the meaning for us of these two symbolic rocks in Exodus.  Christ is the Rock of Ages; we find refuge from God’s wrath in the clefts of Christ’s wounds; like the people of Israel receiving water in the wilderness from the rock struck by Moses, we receive spiritual nourishment in the wilderness of this world from the water and the blood which in the Sacraments continue to flow to us today from our stricken Savior’s side.

Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power.

“Rock of Ages” is the most popular hymn written by Augustus Toplady, an English minister in the 1700’s.  Even as a young boy his diary records his prayers and sermons that he wrote for himself.  He wrote a total of 133 hymns, including today’s first Communion hymn.  His most popular and enduring hymn was “Rock of Ages,” the very first hymn he wrote, when he was a young minister, 23 years old.  He was walking one day through a gorge with massive cliffs 250 feet high.  Suddenly a terrible thunderstorm came up, and he found shelter in a cave or “cleft” in the rock.  As he sat there protected from the powerful downpour and the terrible lighting and thunder, he thought about how the Christian is sheltered from the storms of life and saved from the terrible punishments for sin by taking shelter, hiding in Christ, the “Rock of Ages.”  By the time the storm had passed, young Pastor Toplady had finished writing his first and most famous hymn.

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

At that time there was a debate in the English church about whether we are saved at least in part on account of our works, what we have done to earn salvation. Toplady felt very strongly about this and so he stresses in the rest of the hymn “Rock of Ages,” and in our first Communion hymn today, the Biblical teaching that we are saved not by works but by God’s GRACE alone:

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 thy cross I cling.

Toplady served as a minister for only 16 years before he died at the young age of 38, proclaiming on his deathbed firm faith in Christ, fulfilling in his own life and death the words he had written in his most famous hymn:

While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyelids 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!

Martin Luther, of course, never heard the hymn “Rock of Ages,” which was written hundreds of years after he lived.  But, in his writings Luther, often commented on the story this hymn is based on, of Moses being hidden in a rock.  It was actually one of Luther’s favorite Bible stories.

There is one more part of this story that Luther took great comfort from:  “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back side; but my face must not be seen.’”

Luther likened Moses being allowed to see only the BACK side of God to US not always understanding WHY things happen the way they do.  Because, in this life we see only the “back side” of God’s plans and purposes, and only in heaven will we see God face to face and fully understand.  As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.”

Luther put it this way: “Moses viewed God’s mercy from behind, meaning he was not able to see God’s plan and purpose.  In the same way, God says to us: ‘You would like to see my face; you want me to do things the way that seems to you to be advantageous and good. But, I shall act in such a way that it may seem to you that some fool has done this, and not God. For now you must see my back, not my face.  But sometime later you will see my face understand these things.’ Therefore let us learn that this is the way in which God governs his saints.”

When things in your life don’t seem to make sense, remember that in this life, like Moses in the cleft of the rock as God’s glory passes by, you see only the back side of God’s purposes and plans, like trying to figure out a blueprint by looking through the back side of the paper.  That’s why you don’t always understand God’s blueprint for your life.  But, in heaven, Paul says, “Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.”

And when you are buffeted by the storms of life, like Augustus Toplady take refuge in the “Rock of Ages,” in the wounds of Christ.  Be cleansed and soothed by the water and the blood which in the Sacraments continue to flow to you from your stricken Savior’s side.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed.

Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Amen.