As I stood before the bathroom mirror getting ready for today, I noticed that I was gently swaying back and forth in rocking motion.
Before you think me peculiar, I'll share that just yesterday I held a sweet 8 month old baby girl in my arms. She was exhausted. So I rocked her. I stood by the glass door looking into our back yard and I and shifted my weight from one foot to the other in rhythm as I held her in the crook of my arms, her eyes heavy.
Maybe that's why I rocked today.
But it so happens that as I was preparing my hair and makeup today, I was thinking on some pretty heavy things; happenings that have my soul knotted. I had no sweet baby in my arms. On the contrary, I suspect today I was the weary child. As I swayed, I can't help but think that I was the one being "rocked". And as warm air from the blow dryer rushed though my hair, I felt a song course through my soul.
Rock of Ages.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee
- A song I've heard countless times and sadly I tell you I haven't thought much about the meaning of these aged words. What does "cleft for me" even mean? To me, Rock of Ages has been another hymn which has had its sacred place in the hymnal- nice and tucked away in a pew back.
Today I searched for the complete lyrics and came across a picture of Burrington Combe, a limestone gorge in England. There is a cleft in the rock that has been named Rock of Ages. Legend has it that the composer of our hymn, Augustus Montague, wrote the powerful lyrics while hiding in its shelter during a storm.
True or not, this legend is a beautiful picture of our "Rock of Ages". He is the strong one who cradles us in the crook of His mighty arms. It's there we find a resting place, and a place to hide. And he rocks us gently through the storm.
Today I heard a lullaby sweet and low- Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee. It gave me rest. My storm is small, but my heart breaks for those in raging storms. And I am compelled to pray. I pray that the "Rock of Ages" would be their shelter from the storm; a place of rest for the weary soul.