A Piece of the Rock

The young saint of God named David slew the giant with “a piece of the Rock.” The stone in his sling was more than a little rock from the brook; it was the hope of Israel and the life of every true believer. When the great giant looked down from his over-large frame on the lad of Jesse, he was offended that the army of Israel would send a child to fight with him. His great skill as a warrior needed a challenge so he could carry back to his country an exciting tale of his military expertise. To him, the approaching David was a joke, and he fell into a rage. But David was a type of the future Messiah or Christ, and his strength was not in Israel’s armor but in God’s Rock. David chose a smooth stone because the Christ was still with the Father, and the smitten Rock was still a future prophecy. Every word of the First Testament is possessed through and through with this shadow of a future death when the Rock would be rent in two and the great Son of the Heavenly Father would become the “Rock of Ages.”

God is called “the Rock” all throughout the First Testament. Moses said of Him, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) He spoke of the heathen gods as little rocks that deceived their victims, and clearly praised our God as the Great Rock above all these false rocks. He said, “For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.” (Deuteronomy 32:31-32)

Nothing is more blasphemous than to make the gods of paganism and false religions as equals to the Great Jehovah God. He alone is the Rock with a capital “R”. The one world religion declares all gods as equals and hates anyone who believes in the one “Rock of Ages.” First Samuel declared, “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2) David trusted in this Rock and said, “He only is my [R]ock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” (Emphasis added) (Psalm 62:2) When, in his valley of despair, he cried, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the [R]ock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2) Solomon said, “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the [R]ock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” (Emphasis added) (Song of Solomon 2:14)

The Lord Jesus Christ knew who He was and said, “…upon this [R]ock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (St. Matthew 16:18b) All questions about who is the Rock, Peter or Christ, were answered by Paul when he wrote, “…and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:4b) David spoke of Calvary and the splitting of the Rock when he said, “He opened the [R]ock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.”(Emphasis added) (Psalm 105:41)

This Rock is the one source of life, both spiritual and eternal, available to the thirsty multitudes. From the smooth stone in David’s sling to the hill called Calvary, all our hopes are met in Him. Religious people study great theological systems and revel in their learning, but more often their souls are as dry as moldy dust. Modern spiritualism is searching for another Mecca to experience emotional satisfaction, but strangely, each experience leaves their soul planning the next event. Keeping a list of do’s and don’ts is the life of many believers that keep on searching for another rule to help bolster up their faith. Part of all of this is New Testament Christianity, but until Jesus Christ, the “ Rock of Ages”, is the sole source of all our hopes and delights, something is sadly missing.

Jesus Christ is not only the “Light of the World,” He is the “Life of the World.” There is no spiritual life apart from Him. Until you are converted by the redeeming work of His Spirit, your soul and spirit are empty of the life that only comes from the “Rock.” It does not matter how long you have been a saint of God, there is never a place where any life is available apart from this Rock. The whole multitude of Israel in the wilderness was dying of thirst until Moses struck the rock. The Israelite army was filled with fear until little David crossed the brook after choosing a smooth stone to fit the giant’s challenge. Our hope is in Him. He is the Rock and your life must be lived by “a piece of the Rock” for every hour.

Joseph R. Chambers
In Appreciation: I give credit to my son, Terry, for this thought of David and the smooth stone and it being a type of Christ – “a piece of the Rock.”