God Is My Rock – Br. Curtis Almquist
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Psalm 62:1-9
There’s an old story told from when God was creating the world. God assigned the angel Gabriel to distribute stones and rock. Gabriel did this faithfully, flying here and there with a very large sack of stones on his back. But when Gabriel was flying over the mountains around Jerusalem, the sack broke and the entire load fell.[i] It’s a charming story. What’s for sure true is that the Holy Land is a very rocky place.
It is no surprise that rocks figure into Jesus’ teaching. In his parable of the sower, Jesus speaks about a farmer “sowing seed, some of which falls among the rocks,” because farm fields would need to be endlessly cleared of rocks. Jesus speaks metaphorically of those who walk in the daytime “will not stumble,” won’t stumble over rocks. Tombs and burial boxes – “ossuaries” – were carved out of stone, and to this day; water cisterns were chiseled into rock, and to this day. Jesus would give a new name to Simon, the designated leader among his disciples. What’s the most powerful name Jesus could bestow on Simon? Peter, which means “rock,” the rock on whom Jesus would build his church.
The metaphor of stones and rock is used again and again throughout the scriptures, and especially in the psalms. So we hear in the psalm appointed for today:
[God] alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall not be greatly shaken…
In God is my safety and my honor;
God is my strong rock and my refuge…
We live in very shaky times. In virtually every venue of life in our world, there is now instability. The psalmist assures us: God is our rock, our stronghold, our refuge, so that we shall not be greatly shaken… How is this true for you now? Amidst so many things that are dismantling, falling apart, washing away, what is the bedrock of truth that you know from God that can keep you stable? Jesus said that “everyone [who] hears his words… will be like a wise [person] who built [their] house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.[ii]
What do you know for sure? What has been God’s revelation to you that remains a constant? What specifically is the bedrock of your faith in Christ that can keep you stable amidst “the changes and chances of life”?[iii] Cling to the rock.
[i] The story, recounted by Gary M. Burge in The Bible and the Land, p. 61.
[ii] Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 8:13.
[iii] From a Compline prayer, Book of Common Prayer (1979), p. 133.
My rock or anchors that connect me to God and peace. Prayer. Scriptures. Church services and programs (even when most are now remote). My wife, family, friends. Wonderful sermons and words such as this sermon. Thank you so much, Brother Curtis.
Thank you for giving me hope.
You hit the rock bottom of our life, as it were, both individually and communally.
Thank you for your comforting words.
Jesus is the Rock of Ages….such comfort in anxious times.
Thank you Brother Almquist for the reminders. The psalm in your article is on of my favorites. Durning these increasingly turbulent times, a rock, Jesus, is a solid constant upon which to cling as we are rolled and tumbled through these days….thank you!
Br Almquist, thank you so much for this. It is a relief to remember the bedrock of our faith, and each of us may have a somewhat different experience of that. I am going to share your words with our small House Church group, so each can ponder them and know for certain their own personal bedrock. Bless you.
I have proved over and over that “God is my Rock”. When I have a problem no matter how great, God comes through for me.
…your words of rocks falling and founding, popped Jacobs’ story into mind and his wrestling w/God (for me not just the angel) and his name being changed to Israel. Israel lives and continues to wrestle! If you can, re-read Jacobs’ entire story with a Hebrew-English interlinear text. Zondervan is the best because each word is directly over the English translation. The Hebrew interlinear is over to the side and you must know Hebrew well. Studied w/Jews about fourteen years and evangelical Zondervan is great translation!
…currently, the thought that helps me most w/your-my-our rocky situation(s) is my Loyola Jesuit theology & philosophy training, that quickly reminds me that God is Infinite and we shall never ever know God, even in heaven there will be an ongoing getting to know YOU, Infinite ONE.
…also, one Jebbie logic rule I have never forgotten and encounter often is “…you cannot seek what you do not know, one must know in some way what it is you’re seeking…so if you’re seeking something you already know something about it or you could not be seeking it…”! Make this rule of logic a part of you, it gives me some type of gestalt peace and HOPE!
God is love. God will never leave me.
Hallelujah and Amen.
Such an important reminder in these turbulent times. Your podcast couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank you.