He Hideth My Soul

Copyright 2013 PJ Stassen

All Rights Reserved

Liberty means responsibility.  That is why most men dread it.

-       George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

The Bible says: The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; (Proverbs 30:26 ASV, www.e-sword.net).

   That is why we run to God to hide in the cleft of the rock.  Life is too complex for us to figure it out in advance; faith is a much better way, not necessarily always to avoid trouble, but especially as help in times of trouble.  The Providence of God is beyond human comprehension, and the man who relies on his own ingenuity will probably eventually fail, and fail spectacularly, regardless of apparent success experienced at present.   

   It is obviously easy to see why poor, unsuccessful or struggling persons may want to run to God and hide, but why would any intelligent, educated and successful person need the psychological crutch of religion, prayer and the Bible?  “Religion is for weaklings, dismal failures and fools,” have I so often heard.

   Here’s the deal:  The intelligence, education, business acumen and streetwise skills of any person, regardless of his field of endeavour, will never match the intelligence, education, influence and wisdom of God. To compare the two would be like comparing an I.Q. of anything between 180 and 210 (representative of the ‘genius’ category) with an I.Q. of infinity to the power of infinity:

Infinity^Infinity

The Bible says:

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:7 KJV, www.e-sword.net).

   Bear in mind:  If it were really possible, some inferior impostor of a good-natured, super-intelligent ‘deity’ may perhaps very conveniently simply have answered all our prayers all the time indiscriminately and without questioning our motives or the morality of our prayers, or worrying over the consequences afterwards, but would that have been what we really wanted?  Our peace of mind comes from the fact that God is not only omnipotent, but also infinitely wise.  He will make the better, wiser decision and assess our prayers and requests in terms of His divine values, even if it means sometimes not answering those prayers and not giving us what we ask for. It is obvious why God will not do bad things, but the only reason why God will not sometimes do a 'wise' thing is because He is probably considering an even 'wiser' course of action or result 

   I have often prayed: "Lord, please protect me against myself ... don't answer my prayers if it will not work for my good, for the good of mankind or if it will go against God's cosmic agenda."  Not that God needs our advice or permission to decide on how He should deal with our prayers, but, as Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) has said, "God has invented prayer to 'give us the dignity of causality."  Wise man, Pascal.  Also bear in mind that, as far as I am concerned, the wrong prayer unanswered is, mathematically speaking, just as valuable as the right prayer answered.  Let's choose to hide in the cleft of the rock, the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ, hence also that wonderful song: 'Rock of Ages, cleft for me ... let me hide myself in Thee!'    

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He Hideth My Soul

(Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915/William J. Kirkpatrick, 1838-1921)

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,

A wonderful Savior to me;

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,

Where rivers of pleasure I see.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord ‒

He taketh my burden away;

He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved,

He giveth me strength as my day.

With numberless blessings each moment He crowns,

And, filled with His fullness divine,

I sing in my rapture, “O, glory to God

For such a Redeemer as mine!

When clothed in His brightness transported I rise

To meet Him in clouds of the sky,

His perfect salvation, His wonderful love,

I’ll shout with the millions on high.

CHORUS

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

That shadows a dry, thirsty land;

He hideth my life in the depths of His love,

And covers me there with His hand …

And covers me there with His hand.  

Bibliography

1.    Andrews, Allen (1969)   Quotations For Speakers And Writers.  Newnes Books.  Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd. London.

2.    Peterson, John W. (1966)   Great Hymns Of The Faith. ‘He Hideth My Soul’.  Singspiration.  Zondervan Publishing House.  Grand Rapids, Michigan.