That is somewhat different from what I have already been dwelling upon. Mark the words: Be Thou to me a strong Rock, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress.' What does that mean? It means that the suppliant has, by his own act of faith, taken God for his; that he has appropriated the great divine revelation, and made it his own. Now it seems to me that that appropriation is, if not the point, at least one of the points, in which real faith is distinguished from the sham thing which goes by that name amongst so many people. A man by faith encloses a bit of the common for his very own. When God says that He so loved the world that He gave His… Son,' I should say, He loved me, and gave Himself for me.' When the great revelation is made that He is the Rock of Ages, my faith says: My Rock and my Fortress.' Having said that, and claimed Him for mine, I can then turn round to Him and say, Be to me what I have taken Thee to be.'
And that faith is expressed very beautifully and strikingly in one of the Old Testament metaphors, which frequently goes along with this one of the Rock. For instance, in a great chapter in Isaiah we find the original of that phrase the Rock of Ages.' It runs thus, Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord JEHOVAH is the Rock of Ages.' Now the word for trust there literally means, to flee into a refuge, and so the true idea of faith is to fly for refuge,' as the Epistle to the Hebrews has it, to the Hope set before us,'--that is (keeping to the metaphor), to the cleft in the Rock.
That act of trust or flight will make it certain that God will be to us for a house of defence, a fortress to save us. Other rock-shelters may crumble, j They may be carried by assault; they may be riven by earthquakes. The mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed,' but this Rock is impregnable, and all who take refuge in it are safe for ever.
And so the upshot of the whole matter is that God will be to us what we have faith to believe that He is, and our faith will be the measure of our possession of the fulness of God. If we can only say in the fulness of our hearts--and keep to the saying: Be Thou to me a Rock, for Thou art my Rock,' then nothing shall ever hurt us; and dwelling in the secret place of the Most High' we shall be kept in safety; our abode shall be the munitions of rocks, our bread shall be given us, and our water shall be made sure.'
