Our Rock

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”- — Ps. 1xi.

HERE are so many thoughts about Jesus as our Rock, that we can only find room for a very few of them. First, He is the smitten Rock (Num. xx. ); for He was smitten of God (Isa. liii. ), and smitten of man too, as we read in the solemn story of His sufferings. Smitten, like the rock in the thirsty desert, with a rod; for it says, “they shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek ’ (Micah v. ). Smitten that the stream of life might flow forth for you and me. Secondly, He is the cleft Rock. God said to Moses, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock” (Exod. ¥Xxill, ). And He put him in a cleft of the rock, and covered him with His hand, while His glory passed by. You know how you like to have a place by one you love, and what an honor it is to have a place by some one who is great or noble! So, when God sets our feet upon the Rock (Ps. xl.

), it is a place by Him, a happy place, and an honorable place. It is a safe place too, not only safe from the great enemy now; but when the great and terrible day of the Lord comes (Joel ii. ), and His glory is more than the unsheltered ones can bear, those in the cleft of the Rock will have nothing to fear.

Thirdly, He is the Higher Rock. When the tide is beginning to come in, it would be no use standing on a rock no higher than yourself. The waves would very soon dash over that, and drown you. But if you climb up to a higher rock, ever so much above your head, the waves can never reach you. No matter how furiously they roll in, you are just as safe as if there was not such a thing as a wave at all! So when God leads you to the Higher Rock, that is, when His grace draws you to come to Jesus (John vi. ), you are safe! Fourthly, He is the strong Rock (Ps. xxxi. ). David knew what it was to dwell in rocks, to be out of the way of Saul (1 Sam. XXlil. ); and so he said, “Be Thou my strong habitation (margin, a rock of habitation), whereunto I may continually resort” (esa xxi, ). That is just what Jesus is, a strong Rock, where we may always go to be safe out of the way of our enemy, Satan. Fifthly, He is a Rock of offence (1 Pet. ii. ). It is very sad and solemn to read this, but it is true. Those who do not like to come to Jesus as the Rock of salvation (Deut. xxxil. ) will know some day what its terrible meaning is. But may all my little readers, and older ones too, be like the coneys, so wise though so feeble, because they make their houses in the rocks (Prov. XXX. ). Remember that the Lord Jesus calls those who love Him His doves, that are in the clefts of the rock (Cant. ii. ). And if you are like the coneys and the doves in this, then He says to you, “Let the inhabitants of the Rock sing!” (Isa. xlii. 2