The Rock

Sometimes I read an essay that is so wonderful that I want to quote it in its entirety. I also recognize that shorter is usually better, so I will condense what I read yesterday to a summary in small nuggets.

I found it in a new "favorite" book entitled A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble by Paul David Tripp. I have loved his writing for years, and this latest work, published in 2009, is a gem. The whole book is a treatise on Psalm 27.

He begins this particular chapter will the assertion that "All human beings are on a search somehow someway to find that solid rock on which to stand." Is this true? I think it is. Some of us turn to our careers, our possessions, our kids, even our churches, to fill the innate need we have for security. But are these solid enough to withstand the storms that inevitably come into our lives? I don't think so. And neither does Tripp:

"So here is the dilemma of your humanity; you are clearly not in control of the details or destiny of your life, yet as a rational, purposeful, emotional being, you cry for a deep and abiding sense of well-being. In your quest, what you are actually discovering is that you were hardwired to be connected to Another. You weren't hardwired to walk the pathway of life all by yourself.... You were designed to find your "solid rock" only in a dependent, loving, worshipful relationship with Another. In this way, every human being is on a quest for God; the problem is we don't know that, and in our quest for stability, we attempt to stand on an endless catalog of God replacements that end up sinking with us."

Ouch. That hurts because it's so true. Ponder, as I have, what those replacements are for you. It's not a pretty picture if we're really honest with ourselves.

The solution? As always, it's God's solution:

"He will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock." (v.5)

The wonder of these verses is that God IS the rock, and unlike the rocks we know, He moves and loves and protects and saves. Back to Tripp: "Our inability to find security for ourselves is so profound that we'd never find on our own the One who is to be our rock; no, he must find us. The language of Psalm 27 is quite precise here: 'He will lift me high upon a rock.' It doesn't say, 'I will find the rock and I will climb up on it.'"

Such mercy, such love, such compassion. Rock climbing to safety in the midst of a terrible storm is not only foolish but unnecessary. God will do all the work by lifting us high and placing us safely on solid ground.