ROCK CONCERT (excerpt from Joy Blossoms Among the Thorns)
Come, let us sing for joyH7442 to the LORD; let us shoutH7321 to the Rock of our salvation! Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noiseH7321 to Him in song.
Psalm 95:1-2
God, who is the Rock, provided water from the Rock. Numbers 20:8 states, “Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.” According to 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, Jesus was the Rock that poured out the water, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Jesus, being the Rock, is the provision and is the River of Life. John 7:38 says, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” The living water is the Holy Spirit flowing through the life of the believer and bearing witness to the world. The Rock, in scripture, is also a symbol of safety and security. The high rocks of the holy land served as natural fortresses. Jesus is our stronghold, and we rest safely in His care.
I had only known Susan for eleven months, when I stayed in the hospital with her through major surgery. She had come through the bilateral above-the-knee amputation surgery well and was getting settled in a regular hospital room for the night. I had not really eaten since noon, and it was now nearing midnight. While the respiratory therapist was trying to get her oxygen adjusted, I ran down to the cafeteria. I came back to the room, ate two bites of my pizza, and realized Susan’s oxygen saturation was too low according to the monitor. The respiratory therapist and the nurse came in to try to replace the nasal cannula with a face mask. I kept telling Susan to breathe. Suddenly the nurse hit a big, red button on the wall and called “Code Blue.” Susan had ceased breathing at all! I exclaimed, “Susan, I am not leaving you! I will be in the hallway.” She says she was aware of my promise even as they were sitting astraddle her and “bagging” her to squeeze air into her lungs. I sank against the wall in the hallway for fear I would fall, but as I began saying the Lord’s prayer (couldn’t formulate a prayer of my own at that moment), I realized it was not the wall I was leaning on but the Rock, our Lord Jesus Christ. He faithfully held me up! (By the way, this happened at about 11:55 P.M. on this date in 2015. I did not realize that when I chose this devotional for this day until I loaded it onto the website. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!)
Do you remember a time when you had to lean heavily on Christ the solid Rock? Let us sing and shout joyfully to the Rock. Let’s hold a “Rock” concert!
Father, we thank You that we have a solid foundation, a strong Rock, on which to place our faith. Thank You for the many times You have held us up when we thought our knees might buckle. May we sing in worship to the Rock of our salvation all our days!
Worship with Psalm 95 set to music by John Michael Talbot:
Or sing “Jesus is the Rock and He Rolls My Blues Away with Phil Driscol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wTbPrSWOqM