Tunes: MARTYN, REFUGE
This kind of hiding is not like a children’s game; it is rather a plea for Christ to cover us or tuck us away near to the heart of God during a rough patch… a difficult stretch… possibly only a more-than-we-can-handle day.
I remember vividly a Glorieta Music Week preacher telling a room full of hymn-lovers that we should never sing this hymn again because it encourages us to hide instead of fighting, taking a stand or being “out there,” taking on the world as it comes. I remember my brain screaming, “What?! Is this guy serious?” He may have been a famous pulpiteer with a large following, but on that one, he was wrong.
There are days we need to be covered, drawn nearer, shadowed ‘neath the wings of the Almighty. The storm of life may be as simple as feeling inadequate or insignificant; it may be a family or worldwide tragedy; it may be a prognosis. Whatever it is, we seek refuge in the cleft of the Rock of Ages.
An old southern gospel song that I cherish to this day is “Where Could I Go But to the Lord?” Along with today’s Wesley hymnline and many others like it from scripture and from hymnal-pages, we get the answer to that toe-tapping question: nowhere.
I am not ashamed to tell you that with Corrie Ten Boom, I often cry out to God for a hiding place where my attention is drawn from the momentary or long-term thunder storm or tornadic activity in which I find myself – drawn instead to the hope and eventual joy with which I emerge to forge ahead, at least until the next down pour. I don’t think that makes me less brave; I think it makes me more reliant on the Source of any spiritual bravery I might muster to outlive the storm.
Rock of Ages, let me hide in thee once again… and again, and again. I have nowhere else to go. Amen.
Hear Fernando Ortega Sing This Hymn (REFUGE tune)
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