Hymn Stories - Rock of Ages
In 1769, Augustus Toplady was a minister in the Church of England. The story goes that one Sunday afternoon, while out for a walk, he saw the dark clouds of a storm gathering. As the sky became increasingly threatening and the thunder became more ominous, Toplady began to search for a place of shelter from the storm. He saw a small ledge between two towering boulders. “Toplady crept under the sheltering rocks and crouched in their mighty shadows while the storm raged. While the wind roared and the thunder crashed, the words of this hymn came to his mind and, taking a scrap of paper, he began to write them down:
Rock of Ages cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee
Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power.”
At least, that’s the popular version of how this song came to be. The true story is somewhat less romantic.
Preaching at this time were John and Charles Wesley. The Wesleys were terribly concerned about the state of their Church – the Church of England. Years before, John Calvin had advanced the notion that God had already determined the saved and the dammed and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Many people, holding to this view, came to think that it didn't matter how you lived, because if you were saved, you couldn't be lost, and if you were lost, there was nothing to do to be saved.
The Wesleys disagreed. They urged personal piety and obedience upon all, telling them that Christian lives should be marked by obedience and faith and a true sorrow for sin.
Unfortunately, Wesley was mis-heard by many of his critics, and few of them were as vocal as Augustus Toplady. Wesley's critics insisted that Wesley was preaching a "salvation by works" theology wherein it was possible to save yourself through good deeds and sorrow for sin.
The struggle between John Wesley and Augustus Toplady was fierce. Toplady called Wesley a “lurking, sly assassin” guilty of “low serpentine cunning” and “dirty subterfuges which sing a divine into the level of an oyster woman.” Wesley replied that Toplady was “too dirty a writer for me to meddle with; I should only foul my fingers" (John Pollack, John Wesley: Servant of God (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1989) p. 228).
Toplady wrote the hymn to rebut what he perceived as a “salvation by works” theology. John Wesley had himself penned a hymn which called Jesus the "Rock struck for me". The hymn continued with these words: "let those two streams of blood and water which once gushed out of thy side bring down pardon and holiness to my soul (Pamela J. Kennedy, Hymns of Faith and Inspiration (Nashville, TN: Ideals Publishing Co., 1990) p. 48.)."
In the first verse, Toplady used Wesley's own words against him, noting that the preacher had admitted that Jesus, the “Rock of Ages,” was the source of his salvation.
In the second verse, Toplady pressed his point: We cannot save ourselves.:
Not the labor of my hands can fulfill the 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.
The third verse was more personal for Augustus Toplady and in it, he emphasized the need to depend on Christ alone. Most of his life had been spent in poor health and at the time of the hymn, he was suffering from TB.
Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to thy cross I bring.
Naked come to thee for dress; Helpless, look to thee for grace.
Vile, I to the fountain fly.
Wash me savior or I die.
Toplady died two years later at the age of 38. It is ironic that a hymn born out of such dissension and controversy would have brought such peace and hope to Christians over the past two centuries. It is equally sad that two men, both dedicated to God, refused to listen to one another. Had they done so, they might have found that in truth, they were really in agreement.
Rock of Ages cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee
Let the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power.”
At least, that’s the popular version of how this song came to be. The true story is somewhat less romantic.
Preaching at this time were John and Charles Wesley. The Wesleys were terribly concerned about the state of their Church – the Church of England. Years before, John Calvin had advanced the notion that God had already determined the saved and the dammed and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Many people, holding to this view, came to think that it didn't matter how you lived, because if you were saved, you couldn't be lost, and if you were lost, there was nothing to do to be saved.
The Wesleys disagreed. They urged personal piety and obedience upon all, telling them that Christian lives should be marked by obedience and faith and a true sorrow for sin.
Unfortunately, Wesley was mis-heard by many of his critics, and few of them were as vocal as Augustus Toplady. Wesley's critics insisted that Wesley was preaching a "salvation by works" theology wherein it was possible to save yourself through good deeds and sorrow for sin.
The struggle between John Wesley and Augustus Toplady was fierce. Toplady called Wesley a “lurking, sly assassin” guilty of “low serpentine cunning” and “dirty subterfuges which sing a divine into the level of an oyster woman.” Wesley replied that Toplady was “too dirty a writer for me to meddle with; I should only foul my fingers" (John Pollack, John Wesley: Servant of God (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1989) p. 228).
Toplady wrote the hymn to rebut what he perceived as a “salvation by works” theology. John Wesley had himself penned a hymn which called Jesus the "Rock struck for me". The hymn continued with these words: "let those two streams of blood and water which once gushed out of thy side bring down pardon and holiness to my soul (Pamela J. Kennedy, Hymns of Faith and Inspiration (Nashville, TN: Ideals Publishing Co., 1990) p. 48.)."
In the first verse, Toplady used Wesley's own words against him, noting that the preacher had admitted that Jesus, the “Rock of Ages,” was the source of his salvation.
In the second verse, Toplady pressed his point: We cannot save ourselves.:
Not the labor of my hands can fulfill the 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.
The third verse was more personal for Augustus Toplady and in it, he emphasized the need to depend on Christ alone. Most of his life had been spent in poor health and at the time of the hymn, he was suffering from TB.
Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to thy cross I bring.
Naked come to thee for dress; Helpless, look to thee for grace.
Vile, I to the fountain fly.
Wash me savior or I die.
Toplady died two years later at the age of 38. It is ironic that a hymn born out of such dissension and controversy would have brought such peace and hope to Christians over the past two centuries. It is equally sad that two men, both dedicated to God, refused to listen to one another. Had they done so, they might have found that in truth, they were really in agreement.
