Last Sunday, Brother Haug gave us a heart-warming rendition of Augustus Toplady’s hymn “Rock of Ages.” Some people claim that “Rock of Ages” is the number one best and most popular hymn in Christendom. Some make it equal to “Amazing Grace” – which has far less of a Biblical message. One quote that I found stated, “The words of this hymn are among the most profound, inspiring, encouraging, sacred, devotional, and precious words ever penned.”
Despite its prominence, “Rock of Ages” is the only hymn by Toplady in our hymnals or in any of a dozen other hymnals in my library. Except in this one which was printed in 1858, almost 175 years go. This has seven of his hymns. Some of them are wonderful, even if not up to the same standard as “Rock of Ages.” For example there is: O Thou who hear’st the prayer of faith.” Toplady never gave his hymns a title. They are all known only by their first line. “O Thou who hear’st” starts out with the words, O Thou who hear’st the prayer of faith, Wilt thou not save a soul from death, that casts itself on THEE? I have no refuge of my own, but fly to what my Lord hath done, and suffered once for ME. Slain in the guilty sinner’s stead, His spotless righteousness I plead, and His availing BLOOD; Thy merit, Lord, my robe shall be; Thy merit shall atone for me, and bring me near to GOD. Then save from eternal death, the Spirit of adoption breathe, His consolations SEND; By him some word of life impart, And sweetly whisper to my heart, “Thy Maker is thy FRIEND.” The king of terrors then would be a welcome messenger to me, To bid me come AWAY: Unclogged by earth, or earthly things, I’d mount, I’d fly with eager wings To every lasting DAY.
There is something else about “Rock of Ages,” I’d like you to see. Please turn to hymn 113. You’ll notice that there are only three verses. Actually, Toplady wrote four verses, and what we have has been changed from his original version. I have it on good record that Augustus’ verse originally said, “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 from wrath and make me pure. Not the labor 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; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die. While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.”
As I said this morning in Toplady’s testimony, in 1756, when he was 16 years old, Augustus, an English boy, was in Codymain, Ireland. While there he was attracted to a religious service being held in a barn. The preacher, it is said, couldn’t read the Bible; he could hardly even spell his name. But the Lord knows that his name was James Morris. Despite the relative ignorance of this man, the power of God was in that barn that evening. And Augustus Montague Toplady was overcome by the Holy Spirit, trusting Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Before he left his teens Toplady was writing poetry and hymns.
One of the boy’s first poems read carried this testimony of salvation: “Surely Christ thy griefs hath borne, Weeping soul, no longer mourn. View Him bleeding on the tree, Pouring out His life for thee: There thy every sin He bore; Weeping soul, lament no more. Weary sinner, keep thine eyes On the atoning sacrifice: There, the incarnate Deity, Numbered with transgressors, see! There, His father’s absence mourns, Nailed, and bruised, and crowned with thorns! Cast thy guilty soul on Him, Find Him mighty to redeem; At His feet thy burden lay, Look thy doubts and cares away. Now, by faith, the Son embrace, Plead His promise; trust His grace.”
Toplady preached for only fourteen years and died a relatively young man. Some people said that he was harsh and bigoted – very much like John Wesley – who hated his doctrine. Others said that his heart was warm, and his zeal was unquenchable. We will probably not know what sort of person he was until we get to glory, and even then we might not know the sort of person he was before his glorification. But we do have a few of his songs.
If you look for the words “Rock of Ages” in your Bible concordance, you won’t find them. But this is a Biblical theme, coming from verse 4 when combined with other scriptures liked Deuteronomy 32:4 – “He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” “Everlasting strength,” in verse 4, could be translated “rock of ages.” The Hebrew word translated “rock” is interesting. It is used seventy-eight times. Three times it is translated “God” or “mighty One.” Three times it is translated “sharp” or “edge.” And seventy-two times it is rendered “rock” “stone” or “strength” as we have it in Isaiah.
There are theologians who say that people in the Old Testament were not delivered from their sins in the same way as people were in the New Testament – or as they are today. These confused people, think God saved souls differently at different times throughout history. But I believe, based on Romans 4, that Abraham, for example, was saved by grace through faith. And David was saved apart from any works that he performed, as we learn from that same scripture. All the Old Testament saints were saints of God through divine grace. And whether ancient or modern, the saints of the Lord enjoy that grace by faith. Here in Isaiah we are all urged to trust in the Lord.
And what is it to TRUST?
James Strong in printed version of his Concordance defines the Hebrew word by saying, “To hie for refuge.” Listen carefully, he didn’t say “to hide for refuge,” but “to hie.” It sounds like a typo – it sound’s like a typographical error – but I’ve seen it in other places. It sounds like it ought to come from the Scottish poetry of Bobby Burns. But no, James Strong was from Connecticut. To “hie” is “to hurry” – hurry just as fast as you can. “Haste is waste” in a lot of things, but definitely not when talking about trust in the Lord. And I might add, “Once you’ve arrived, lean upon the One you trust.” Rely upon him. In fact if you aren’t leaning really heavily, then the fact is you aren’t really trusting. It has been said as criticism of our faith that religion is just crutch for weak minds and hearts. When I was a young Christian those words bothered me, and I tried to deny and refute them. Today, I know that they are true, and I cling to them dearly. I do have a crutch, and I’ve got all my weight upon it. My only improvement on the idea is that Christianity is not my crutch – my crutch is Christ Jesus.
Isaiah talks metaphorically about “the city of salvation.” How does a person enter the great city Isaiah was describing? Verse 4 – “TRUST ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” At the Lord’s invitation, we use our faith to walk right in. And after this believer has entered the city, is there no need for further trust? Verse 3 implies that saving faith is just the beginning of faith. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he TRUSTETH in thee.” It is like the life that is found in a new born baby. But that infant hasn’t even begun to taste what life is really like. Christian, “trust in the Lord, with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
What happens when a child of God continues to grow in his trust of the Lord?
Do you see that Isaiah mentions “perfect peace.” What is that compare to imperfect peace. Actually, the Hebrew says, “Thou wilt keep him in peace, peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” – “shaloam, shaloam.” And as it is used, the implication is to the greatest and highest peace – the perfection of peace. The Lord Jesus once said, “I give unto (my sheep) eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Then He said, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” The fact that we are in the Father’s hand is a strong source of peace. But what I want you think about is the doubling of the hands, that of the Father and the Son. No wonder we are safe and eternally kept. Those double hands are like Isaiah’s reference to “peace, peace” – “shaloam, shaloam.”
That peace peace is the gift of God to those who trust in Him. But, peace is not just a gift of God – as though it was something separate from Himself. If I gave you my watch, I would take it off my wrist, and it would become separate from me. We are talking here about the Peace of God, in the sense that it is a product of the Lord Himself; this peace is a piece of Himself. The New Testament speaks of the Peace of God which passeth our understanding, and this is a part of that unfathomable depth. This peace would not exist if were not connected to the God of all peace.