Rock of Ages
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In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed;
In Your righteousness deliver me.
Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.
2 Sam 22:1-3 And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.
Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! Psalm 2:12
Proverbs 30:5 (NASB95)
5 Every word of God is tested;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
In you I have taken refuge- confession Yahweh is His God
Matthew 6:13 (NASB95)
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
Matthew 27:35–46 (NASB95)
35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
36 And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
38 At that time two robbers *were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
39 And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads
40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying,
42 “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
43 “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.
45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Isaiah 58:11 (NASB95)
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
One night up in a tower in the monastery, Luther thought about this passage in Psalms and also read Romans 1:17: For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed. Luther said he thought about this day and night, until he finally understood what the righteousness of God revealed by the gospel is. It is not speaking of the holy righteousness of God that condemns the guilty sinner, but of the God-kind of righteousness that is given to the sinner who puts his trust in Jesus Christ.
iii. Luther said of this experience: “I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Therefore I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise….. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway into heaven.” Martin Luther was born again, and the reformation began in his heart. One great Lutheran scholar said this was “the happiest day in Luther’s life.”
Ps 31 compares to Ps. 22
“Do not let me be ashamed” - by virtue of the confidence I have in your word, spare me from humiliation and disappointment
פלטני “provide escape
God is the sole source of salvation
Big Idea: Life’s opposition forces are formidable, but God holds powerful sway over the evil forces that assail us.
1 Corinthians 10:1–4 (NASB95)
Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 and all ate the same spiritual food;
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
In each case, the expression evokes vivid imagery and a sense of security. God is a trustworthy, rock-solid Savior.
High cliffs and crags abound in biblical lands, and the Israelites often found themselves hiding in caves and mountain crevices from the enemy (see 1 Samuel 13:6). Considering the many battles fought in Israel, rocky areas were also ideal locations for strong, protective city fortresses. Thus, the phrase Rock of my salvation undoubtedly resonated deeply with God’s people
Consequently, Scripture is fond of likening God to a rock in order to convey His immutability — His inability to change in His essential nature. This is the point of today’s passage.“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” Deut 32:4
Matthew Henry writes, “God is the rock, for he is in himself unchangeable, immovable, and he is to all that seek him and run to him an impenetrable shelter, and to all who trust in him an everlasting foundation.”
Philip de Courcy- shelter in God
Calvin’s translation: 1 In thee, O Jehovah! have I put my trust, let me not be ashamed for ever: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Incline thine ear unto me, deliver me speedily; be unto me a strong rock, a house of defence to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress: and for thy name’s sake thou wilt lead and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net which they have hidden for me; for thou art my strength.
“Do not let me be put to shame” - Jesus suffered shame for us- Acts 5:41 (NASB95)
41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;
who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,
you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
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,
Save me from its guilt and power.
2
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase,
Thou must save, and save by grace.
3
Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy 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.
4
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.