THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK

"I came to your church

To hear my own language - 

Gaelic - spoken.

I had not heard it

In my long campaigning.

You spoke of a child

Secreted by his mother

In a rock cleft; and how,

Wrapped in her plaid,

It survived the storm

She died in.

I loved that mother

Who tenderness sacrificed

Her life for her child.

But now I have learned to love

The Rock, the Christ,

To be ready to die in the cleft

Of that Rock.

I was the child in the cleft."

More of Burnmouth< Scottish Borders

TO YOU WHO BELIEVE

(1 Peter 2: 7)

(1 Peter 1: 19)
What could resolve our need,
And satisfy God’s heart and mind?
Precious blood.

(1 Peter 2: 6)
Men saw a stone, thwart to their building;
God saw a Corner-stone for all His works,
Elect, precious.

(2 Peter 1: 1)
What can avail itself of precious blood?
Or of this precious Corner-stone?
Precious faith.

(Psalm 133: 2)
From the Head, giving savour to all
Down to the hem of the garments flows
Precious Oil.

 (1 Kings 10: 21)
In the expansive house of the forest
Of Lebanon all of the vessels
Precious gold.

(Ezra 8: 27)
What workmanship!  Now God has
Vessels of shining copper
Precious as gold.

(Revelation 21: 11)
What workmanship! Now descends
The holy city – her illuminating,
Like a most precious stone.

Near home in Midlothian, Scotland

THE ROCK

Free to be bound for where I willed

I tramped; by-ways, cross-paths, bent

My footsteps; what turned my campaign?

What stumbling-block hampered me;

What damped? No end appeared,

However long my feet stamped

Or my muscles struggled. With no lamp

To lead, nothing in which to confide,

What tampered with my will? Justice, that Rock,

Broke me, blocked me, drove me from my own way.

But where to hide? Where I ventured

Storms mock and shafts of lightning

Deride meagre strivings. That Sinai

Cannot provide a shelter. Yet truth

Is my only Rock and Refuge:

Oh grace and truth deploys

The cleft in which, safe, I abide;

Mercy was guide up to this haven.

Blood poured, a saving tide

From the stricken side of the Son of God.

After these ways and such protection

Rescued by mercy and by God's grace,

Saved, sustained and nobly elevated.

From being cock of my own dunghill,

Set among nobles, one stone

In its place; with a princely people.

These feet once grazed now prancing,

Hinds feet, firm on the Rock.

What power to convey a lofty degree:

Co  heirs with the pre  eminent Man!

From my new stance, seeking sweetness

For enhancement of fresh modes of love,

Joy to my countenance, power to make me

Dance, where should I go? The Rock,

Sublime answer to each circumstance,

Seemed to unlock   the honey poured.

No time or chance will now meet me

For which there is no solution: Christ   

For me to gather, His undeviance,

His loveliness, my model, my way of advance.

So long deplored, the old structure

Lies shattered, not to be restored

Nor rebuilt. Where can I Build? The Rock

Rejected once, now adored, constitutes

The only Foundation. Here God has worked   

This sure place. Knock and chisel

The stones till their curbed forms afford

Virtue of the bed-rock; ignore no fault

But relish quality, a good hoard

In each exploring consonances of Christ.

Fruits flourish; the tree sprouts

By the pure spring whose attributes derive

From its source, the struck Rock; psalms

Erupt from hearts; bruiting with joy

Clear compositions. The Spirit's flow

Contributes the music. By still waters

The bright flock, rested in safety,

Imbibes what distributes health,

Fresh responses. Through water free

From pollution or harm the purity wells.

Oil exudes; sucking from the Rock

Let us exploit what God provides

From It to employ our hearts in praise

As anointed servants; let light shine

From us who walk in the Spirit's power

To express God's goodness in voice

And ways. Employ priests lips,

Priest's members in all our days.

From our Rock towards our God loose

Rejoicing, admiration, adoration, love!

(29 February 1992)                                           

  

On the East Lothian coastline, Scotland

A PLACE BY ME

“Behold, there is a place by Me:

There shalt thou stand upon the rock”
For Jesus suffered to unlock
The blessings in God’s heart for thee.

To answer thy desire to see
God’s glory, now revealed in grace
Effulgently in Jesus’ face -
“Behold there is a place by Me!”

A scion of a noble stock
Of those who are the sons of light
Enter God’s realm for His delight,
“There shalt thou stand upon the rock”.

More of Northumberland, England

THE ROCK

 

He is my Rock in whom I can confide;
Ensconced within the warmth of its defile,
Safe from the storm and Satan's foul device.
I build on Him according to design:
Where could I build except on Jesus Christ?
God took me up and set me on these Heights,
Transformed my gait: I now have feet like hinds’!
But, no mere base or timeless place to hide,
Out of itself the smitten Rock provides
Abundant water imbuing me with life,
Abundant oil enduing me with light,
Abundant honey to sate my appetite.

THE ROCK

Peebles, and the River Tweed in Autumn

Be unto us a Rock of habitation

To which we may continually resort;
Like hyraxes who relish elevation
Here may thy people happily consort;
Help us gain honey from the Rock's recesses
And taste the oil that Thou wouldst have us find,
Having our blessing in the God who blesses
With copper in the mountains to be mined.

But may we not forget the Rock was smitten
For us to enjoy the water flowing out;
May thoughts of Christ indelibly be written
Upon the hearts He cleared from sin and doubt.

May high-placed and hind-footed singers raise
Hymns, through the Chief Musician, to Thy praise.

HYMN: Response to Psalm 150

At Glencorse Reservoir, Midlothian

Our God, we praise Thee in Thy sanctuary,

A place Thou has prepared with Thine own hand,

Where Thou art dwelling in complacency,

And where Thy grace has caused Thy saints to stand.

Our God, we praise Thee in Thy firmament

In which Thy power and splendour are arrayed:

All is Thy handiwork; in its extent

Thy glory and Thy blessing are displayed.

Our God, we praise Thee in Thy mighty acts:

Creation and redemption show Thy might.

We fear Thee, yet abundant grace attracts,

And Thou hast made us precious in Thy sight.

 Our God, we praise according to Thy power;

Thy hands would make Thy people great and strong;

To Thee, our Rock, our Refuge, and our Tower

The people Thou hast purchased raise their song.

HOW GREAT A PERSON

Since Jesus is my Master
My heart is an
Emplacement for Him.

For my defence
He is my Rock, my Fortress
And my bartizan.

Expanding my border
He is my Partisan
Amid Satan's reich.

How great a Person
To condescend
To be an artisan.

27/02/2019

MARGARET WILSON; WIGTOWN MARTYR

Rosemary by the Wigtown monument

The waters were to the ankles:
Well had these feet followed
The Master’s footsteps.

The waters were to the knees;
How had she bowed to Christ
As the church’s only Head!

The waters were to the loins;
Where man’s ties bound her to the stake:
Where her love bound her to Christ.

A river that could not be passed through:
For if men made the waters vanquish her
She more than conquered, buoyed in love’s ocean.

The stone in the churchyard

BRODGAR

Stones set
Long before Joshua crossed Jordan.

We speculate, consider man-hours,
Lines, suns and aspects

But have lost the men we could ask,
‘What mean ye by these stones?’.

Tap now the knowledge
Of those who know the settings
Of God’s stones.

28/06/2018 - Standing stones at Brodgar, Orkney
Thinking of Joshua 4: 6

MY BUILDING

With silver, precious stones, and gold
I built a delicate, costly tower;
Chryselephantine work extolled
My Master, to its utmost power ‑
But storms arose ‑ it would not stand
For it was founded upon sand.

Again ‑ but now on rock ‑ I built
An edifice designed to swell
The praise of Him who bore my guilt;
I thought my work had progressed well
But fire demolished all I saw
‑ Since it was wood and grass and straw.

Lord, let me build on Thee alone
According to Thy heavenly plan
And let me be a living stone
Solely for Thee, and not for man;
And if the glory all is Thine
The happiness and peace are mine.

TO YOU WHO BELIEVE

(1 Peter 2: 7)

(1 Peter 1: 19)
What could resolve our need,
And satisfy God’s heart and mind?
Precious blood.

(1 Peter 2: 6)
Men saw a stone, thwart to their building;
God saw a Corner-stone for all His works,
Elect, precious.

(2 Peter 1: 1)
What can avail itself of precious blood?
Or of this precious Corner-stone?
Precious faith.

(Psalm 133: 2)
From the Head, giving savour to all
Down to the hem of the garments flows
Precious Oil.

 (1 Kings 10: 21)
In the expansive house of the forest
Of Lebanon all of the vessels
Precious gold.

(Ezra 8: 27)
What workmanship!  Now God has
Vessels of shining copper
Precious as gold.

(Revelation 21: 11)
What workmanship! Now descends
The holy city – her illuminating,
Like a most precious stone.

THE ROCK

THE ROCK

Free to be bound for where I willed

I tramped; by-ways, cross-paths, bent

My footsteps; what turned my campaign?

What stumbling-block hampered me;

What damped? No end appeared,

However long my feet stamped

Or my muscles struggled. With no lamp

To lead, nothing in which to confide,

What tampered with my will? Justice, that Rock,

Broke me, blocked me, drove me from my own way.

But where to hide? Where I ventured

Storms mock and shafts of lightning

Deride meagre strivings. That Sinai

Cannot provide a shelter. Yet truth

Is my only Rock and Refuge:

Oh grace and truth deploys

The cleft in which, safe, I abide;

Mercy was guide up to this haven.

Blood poured, a saving tide

From the stricken side of the Son of God.

After these ways and such protection

Rescued by mercy and by God's grace,

Saved, sustained and nobly elevated.

From being cock of my own dunghill,

Set among nobles, one stone

In its place; with a princely people.

These feet once grazed now prancing,

Hinds feet, firm on the Rock.

What power to convey a lofty degree:

Co-heirs with the pre-eminent Man!

From my new stance, seeking sweetness

For enhancement of fresh modes of love,

Joy to my countenance, power to make me

Dance, where should I go? The Rock,

Sublime answer to each circumstance,

Seemed to unlock - the honey poured.

No time or chance will now meet me

For which there is no solution: Christ -  

For me to gather, His undeviance,

His loveliness, my model, my way of advance.

So long deplored, the old structure

Lies shattered, not to be restored

Nor rebuilt. Where can I Build? The Rock

Rejected once, now adored, constitutes

The only Foundation. Here God has worked - 

This sure place. Knock and chisel

The stones till their curbed forms afford

Virtue of the bed-rock; ignore no fault

But relish quality, a good hoard

In each exploring consonances of Christ.

Fruits flourish; the tree sprouts

By the pure spring whose attributes derive

From its source, the struck Rock; psalms

Erupt from hearts; bruiting with joy

Clear compositions. The Spirit's flow

Contributes the music. By still waters

The bright flock, rested in safety,

Imbibes what distributes health,

Fresh responses. Through water free

From pollution or harm the purity wells.

Oil exudes; sucking from the Rock

Let us exploit what God provides

From It to employ our hearts in praise

As anointed servants; let light shine

From us who walk in the Spirit's power

To express God's goodness in voice

And ways. Employ priests lips,

Priest's members in all our days.

From our Rock towards our God loose

Rejoicing, admiration, adoration, love!

HYMN

STRICKEN, smitten and afflicted,

See Him dying on the tree;

'Tis the Christ by man rejected;

Yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!

Mark the Sacrifine appointed,

See who bears the awful load!

'Tis the Word, 'tis God's Anointed,

Son of man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,

Here the refuge of the lost;

Christ, the Rock of our salvation,

His the Name of which we boast.

Lamb of God! for sinners wounded,

Sacrifice to cancel guilt,

None shall ever be confounded

Who on Thee their hope have built.

 

Hymn by T Kelly

THE HOUSE OF GOD

For the support of such a grand creation
As God's own house only one Rock is sure
To uphold all God's structure and endure
Attacks and storms ‑ and Christ is that foundation.

There is one glorious pattern which alone
Can gratify God's heart ‑ not a mere plan
From which to measure, but the glorious Man
Who pleased God well: Christ is that Corner Stone.

As patterned on that Man we can be built
As living stones each into his own place,
According to the riches of God's grace,
Freed from the stain and penalty of guilt.

The work continues. Soon God will present
His masterpiece ‑ yet we already know
Enjoyment of it ‑ and that work will show
The Headstone, Christ, its finest ornament!

ROCK

Be unto us a Rock of habitation
To which we may continually resort;
Like hyraxes who relish elevation
Here may thy people happily consort;
Help us gain honey from the Rock's recesses
And taste the oil that Thou wouldst have us find,
Having our blessing in the God who blesses
With copper in the mountains to be mined.

But may we not forget the Rock was smitten
For us to enjoy the water flowing out;
May thoughts of Christ indelibly be written
Upon the hearts He cleared from sin and doubt.

May high-placed and hind-footed singers raise
Hymns, through the Chief Musician, to Thy praise.


This reverts to a favourite theme.

JEHOVAH IS MY SHEPHERD

The wolves circle; eyes
Of lions peer through the scrub.
A bear's shadow looms:
Jehovah is my Shepherd.

Mire here; there a treachery
Of scree; I probe the peat,
Scud on poor footing:
Jehovah is my Rock.

Clouds shadow; shadows
lengthen; night edges
Over the horizon:
Jehovah is my Light.

Sin wars against me; Satan
Attempts to entangle me;
Terror on every side:
Jehovah is my Fortress.

Sins assail me; closely
Satan presses me; how
Stand or withstand?
Jehovah is my Shield.

Held; above the battle,
Glimpsing His glimpses
Of man's trite warfare:
Jehovah is my high Tower.

In my place of safety
Enfolded, I can exclaim
Joyfully: Jehovah
Is my Strength and Song.

OLD TESTAMENT

Jehovah Elohim

Condescended

To be a clothes-maker

To cover Man's nakedness.

The God of glory

Condescended to give

His recalcitrant prophet Elijah

Two breakfasts.

And the Rock - smitten once -

Was prepared to be

The nation of Israel's

Water-carrier.

A PLACE BY ME

“Behold, there is a place by Me:

There shalt thou stand upon the rock”

For Jesus suffered to unlock

The blessings in God’s heart for thee.

To answer thy desire to see

God’s glory, now revealed in grace

Effulgently in Jesus’ face -

“Behold there is a place by Me!”

A scion of a noble stock

Of those who are the sons of light

Enter God’s realm for His delight,

“There shalt thou stand upon the rock”.

THE ROCK

Free to be bound for where I willed

I tramped; by-ways, cross-paths, bent

My footsteps; what turned my campaign?

What stumbling-block hampered me;

What damped? No end appeared,

However long my feet stamped

Or my muscles struggled. With no lamp

To lead, nothing in which to confide,

What tampered with my will? Justice, that Rock,

Broke me, blocked me, drove me from my own way.

But where to hide? Where I ventured

Storms mock and shafts of lightning

Deride meagre strivings. That Sinai

Cannot provide a shelter. Yet truth

Is my only Rock and Refuge:

Oh grace and truth deploys

The cleft in which, safe, I abide;

Mercy was guide up to this haven.

Blood poured, a saving tide

From the stricken side of the Son of God.

After these ways and such protection

Rescued by mercy and by God's grace,

Saved, sustained and nobly elevated.

From being cock of my own dunghill,

Set among nobles, one stone

In its place; with a princely people.

These feet once grazed now prancing,

Hinds feet, firm on the Rock.

What power to convey a lofty degree:

Co-heirs with the pre-eminent Man!

From my new stance, seeking sweetness

For enhancement of fresh modes of love,

Joy to my countenance, power to make me

Dance, where should I go? The Rock,

Sublime answer to each circumstance,

Seemed to unlock - the honey poured.

No time or chance will now meet me

For which there is no solution: Christ -  

For me to gather, His undeviance,

His loveliness, my model, my way of advance.

So long deplored, the old structure

Lies shattered, not to be restored

Nor rebuilt. Where can I Build? The Rock

Rejected once, now adored, constitutes

The only Foundation. Here God has worked - 

This sure place. Knock and chisel

The stones till their curbed forms afford

Virtue of the bed-rock; ignore no fault

But relish quality, a good hoard

In each exploring consonances of Christ.

Fruits flourish; the tree sprouts

By the pure spring whose attributes derive

From its source, the struck Rock; psalms

Erupt from hearts; bruiting with joy

Clear compositions. The Spirit's flow

Contributes the music. By still waters

The bright flock, rested in safety,

Imbibes what distributes health,

Fresh responses. Through water free

From pollution or harm the purity wells.

Oil exudes; sucking from the Rock

Let us exploit what God provides

From It to employ our hearts in praise

As anointed servants; let light shine

From us who walk in the Spirit's power

To express God's goodness in voice

And ways. Employ priests lips,

Priest's members in all our days.

From our Rock towards our God loose

Rejoicing, admiration, adoration, love!