Transcript There Stands a Rock

There Stands a Rock
Writer
• “S.S. Journal” is listed as the writer
– This is a mistake that has been perpetuated
through many songbooks
– S.S. Journal is an abbreviation for where the
original poem was first published
• The “Sunday School Journal” in 1871
– The poem was published anonymously, so the
author is unknown
Composer
• Tullius Christian O’Kane (1830-1912)
– A mathematics tutor
– A choral director
– A school principal
– A traveling organ / piano salesman
– He also helped edit/publish many songbooks
• Often composed music for poems he felt would
make good hymns
– O Think of the Home Over There (#206)
– Is It For Me? (#28)
– On Jordan’s Stormy Banks (#254)
– He added the chorus to the original work
The Song
• First published as a poem in 1871
• First published as a song in 1872
• Has been published under various titles:
– The Sure Foundation
– Firm Stands the Rock
– There Stands a Rock
• The song gives us 3 pictures of the Rock on
which we build our hopes
Stanza 1
• “There stands a Rock on shores of time That rears to
heaven its head sublime; That Rock is cleft, and they
are blest Who find within this cleft a rest.”
• The poetic picture here is of a mountain, a
massive rock standing on the shore
– The top of the mountain is way up high in the
sky and seems so majestic (sublime)
– The mountain is “cleft” (a narrow opening in
rock)
• Such clefts provide shelter and protection for
those who find them and stay within
• But what does that mean for us?
Stanza 1
• David, who often hid in the clefts of the
mountains, considered God to be the real Rock
– Ps 18:1-6, 31, 46
– Ps 27:5; 28:1-2; 31:1-4
– Ps 61:1-4; 62:1-8
• God stands apart from the flow of time,
unchanged and unmoved
• And we can seek Him for shelter and rest
– As Moses was assured of God’s favor when he
watched God’s glory from the cleft (Ex 33:12-23)
Stanza 2
• “That Rock's a cross, its arms outspread; Celestial
glory bathes its head. To its firm base my all I bring,
And to the cross of Ages cling.”
• Now take the image of the first stanza and
realize the rock is Christ (1 Cor 10:4)
– The word “cross” is used to represent the one
who died on the cross (metonymy)
– “celestial glory bathes its head” refers to the
approval of God (Mt 17:1-5)
– We bring our lives to Christ (Gal 6:14)
– And we cling to the message announced by that
cross – that is, the gospel (1 Cor 1:18)
Stanza 3
• “That Rock's a tower whose lofty height, Illumined with
heaven's unclouded light, Opes wide its gates beneath the
dome Where saints find rest with Christ at home.”
• The third picture of the Rock is as a tower
– A tower is a protected, defended home
– Here a tower that continues on up to heaven
• God was David’s tower (Ps 144:1-2)
• Jesus equated a tower and vineyard with the
kingdom of God (Mt 21:33,43)
• So the Rock here is the kingdom / church
founded upon the Rock (Christ) – Matt 16:18
– And whose gates are open to those who would
obey and rest in Jesus (Rev 21:22-27; 14:13)
Conclusion
• “Some build their hopes on the ever-drifting sand, Some
on their fame or their treasure or their land; Mine's on the
rock that forever shall stand, Jesus, the ‘Rock of Ages.’”
• From Matt 7:24-27
• We have a place of shelter, protection, and rest
– In Christ, in His church, and eventually in a
heavenly home
– We can have that place by hearing Christ’s
words and obeying them
• Then let us tell the world that ‘There Stands a
Rock”