Rock of Ages

lyrics by augustus m. toplady, music by thomas hastings

Rock of Ages Lyrics

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.

 

Could my tears forever flow,
Could my zeal no languor know,
These for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.


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.

 

Alternate version:

 

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 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 eye-strings break 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.

 

 

Rock of Ages Guitar Chords

 

        A     D         A

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

       A      E       A

Let me hide myself in Thee;

        E             A  

Let the water and the blood,

         E                  A

From Thy wounded side which flowed,

              D      A 

Be of sin the double cure,

          A         E       A

Save from wrath and make me pure.

 

Scripture References

  • Isaiah 26:4 - You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD is the Rock eternal.
  • John 19:34 - Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
  • 1 John 5:6 - This is the one who came by water and blood —Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

The Story

 

Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages" in 1763. It was published 12 years later in The Gospel Magazine in 1775. The story goes that the Reverend Toplady was walking along the gorge of Burrington Combe in England when he found himself in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. With rain lashing down, he ran into a nearby cave for shelter. While waiting for the storm to clear, he thought about how just as the rocks were providing him shelter from the storm, so to does Jesus, our rock, provide us shelter from the "storms of life" if we choose to hide ourselves in Him.

 

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