Trials in life may be hard, but your soul will be safe and secure when Jesus is your rock. Nothing can hurt you when you are covered in Christ.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I want you to listen to the words to this old hymn because they’re such a comfort.
(Joni sings:)
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,
A wonderful Savior is he.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of leisure 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.
Isn't that a beautiful image? How God hides us in the cleft of a rock? Just thinking about it, I mean, you know how Scripture calls Jesus the rock? It’s so comforting to know that God hides us in the cleft of Jesus, the Rock of Ages, like we are hid with him in Christ. And then, as if that weren’t enough, God covers us with his hand. Talk about feeling safe and secure – the idea of being hid within the side of my Savior, oh it’s so reassuring. There is a place carved out, a niche that God has purposed in his Son, Jesus, just for me, just for you.
And there are so many other wonderful Bible verses that come to mind whenever I sing this song. If right now we were to do a little Bible study, gee, I don’t know, we could flip to 1 Corinthians 10:4 and see that yes, Christ is called the Rock. He is the spiritual rock in which the Father hides us. Which gives great insight into another fascinating passage in Exodus 33, where the Lord says, “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.”
Friend, the word that best describes that is the word “safe.” Safe! No wrong can ever come to you there. No evil can touch you. All of hell might rail against you but nestled in the side of Christ Jesus – you are out of harm's way. Oh sure, the trials may be hard; the difficulties may feel overwhelming, and even your physical body may suffer injury, terrible injury, but no damage can be done to your soul. Your soul is what is safe when you are hidden in the Rock of Ages. Your body may experience harm, just like I experienced a broken neck and total paralysis. But in the long run, my soul was kept safe and secure. Outwardly I may have been wasting away, but inwardly, I am being renewed day by day. And no evil, no harm can ever touch my soul when I'm safely hid within Christ my Rock.
And that's why I love this hymn so much. It is a song of assurance – a song to instill confidence in God, that nothing can hurt us when we are covered in Christ. And for me in this wheelchair, with quadriplegia and all that goes with it, oh, my goodness, that brings such reassurance.
Psalm 32:7 says of the Lord, “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Wow! And this little Bible lesson is hopefully a reminder to you to open up a hymnal and flip to that old hymn, "He Hideth My Soul." The words are powerful, and you can offer them up to the Lord as a prayer. I do it all the time, and I encourage you to do the same.
© Joni and Friends