The Shelter on the Rock

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I HAD to travel by steam boat, and as we passed a huge rock, the captain of the steamer blew his whistle, and immediately the Solan geese rose from their hiding-place on the rock. The passengers crowded on the steamer’s deck, and were intently gazing on the birds flying to and fro as if they were seeking a place to hide, when, to their astonishment, the captain’s voice was heard in clear melodious tones singing the well-known lines:
“Rock of ages cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.”
When the singing ceased, the birds had all returned to their safe retreat on the rock, and the captain taking further advantage of the incident, turned to the passengers and said, “The only place of refuge and safety for a sinner is in Christ crucified.” Then pointing across to the rock where the birds had safely returned, he said:
“Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.”
I never forgot that simple but touching testimony to Christ as the sinner’s only hiding-place. These fluttered birds on wing, exposed and unrested, are like the weary sinner out of Christ. But yonder, hid and covered in the clefts of the rock, they are safe. So is the sinner whose place is in Christ.
Reader, are you there? Christ alone is the sinner’s hiding-place.
“And a Man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; ... as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isa. 32:22And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)
“Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3).
“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:1212He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12).
ML-03/31/1935