Rock Of Ages

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors 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 the 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 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.
— Augustus Montague Toplady (1776)

In 1763, Reverend Augustus Toplady, an English Calvinist minister and pastor of Blagdon, traveled through the rugged beauty of Burrington Combe in Somerset. Near the towering cliffs and winding gorge, the sky suddenly broke open in a fierce storm.

Lightning flashed across the ancient, rock-hewn landscape. Thunder rolled through the gorge as rain poured down the craggy cliffs in rushing streams. Seeking safety, Toplady hurried into a narrow cleft in the rock—a shelter that became, in that moment, far more than a refuge from the storm.

As he waited, he reflected on Scripture: Moses sheltered in the cleft of a rock as God’s glory passed by, and the promise of Isaiah—“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” The storm around him became a picture of life’s trials, while the stone shelter became a symbol of faith and God’s saving grace.

Words for a hymn began to form in his mind. With no paper at hand, tradition says he found discarded playing cards and wrote upon their backs. From that stormy refuge came the beloved hymn, “Rock of Ages,” later published in 1776 as a prayer for believers seeking shelter in Christ.