Clinging to the Rock

THE craggy rocks frown upon the traveler, threatening to fall upon him as he journeys in their shade, and as he looks down from above upon their precipitous steeps, his head whirls and he shuns the brink lest he be dashed to pieces by a fall; yet the little trees and shrubs upon the sides of the precipice are safe from all fear of falling, because they cling with all their might to the rock. Down leaps the cataract with roaring fury as if it would carry all before it; but the flowers and creeping plants fear not its thunder, for they cling to the rock, and find refreshment in the spray of the foaming torrent. The storm sweeps over the mountain, the lightning scars the face of the hoary Alp, the cedars of Lebanon are shivered, and the ships of Tarshish are broken, but the mosses and ferns on the cliff’s beetling crag smile on, unharmed by the terrible whirlwind, for they cling to the rock. The bird which has built its nest in the rifts of the mountain flies abroad and falls a prey to the fowler, but the tiny wildflower which has no wings with which to escape from a foe, does not tempt the enemy, but abides immovable in one place, ever clinging to the rock, and is therefore always safe, helpless though it be. We read in the book of Job of certain houseless persons, who are described as clinging to the rock for shelter; this may be very appropriately applied to every poor needy sinner, who has fled for refuge to Jesus the Rock of Ages. Such a soul is safe beyond all hazard. The justice, greatness, truth and perfection of God, which seem to frown upon others, are all our friends if we know how to cling to them, as they are set forth in the great atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you can only cling to Jesus, poor sinner, you are safe. Neither your own weakness, nor the storms of temptation, nor the hand of justice, can cast you to destruction while you cling to him. Learn from your heart to say,

“Other trust away I fling,

Only to the rock I cling.”

Spurgeon, C. H. (1865). The Sword and Trowel: 1865, 68. (Public Domain)