Lyrics Page
Rock Of Ages
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Oct 31, 2026 updated
Greatest Hymns, Vol. 3 album
Verified editorial review
Song Meaning
Hiding is the governing image here: "Let me hide myself in Thee." Selah sings the hymn's cleft rock, with "the water and the blood" flowing from a "wounded side" as the "double cure" for sin, both its guilt and its stain.
The second stanza clears away every self-made remedy. Endless tears and tireless zeal "could not atone," so the singer arrives with nothing to offer: "In my hand no price I bring / Simply to Thy cross I cling." The third stanza looks ahead to the day "my eyes shall close in death," when the singer will "behold Thee on Thy throne."
Between stanzas this arrangement adds a chorus of names for God, "My Rock, my Fortress / Deliverer and Shield," which brings the psalmist's language of refuge into the hymn. It closes with a few repeated "Oh, yes You are" lines before circling back to the opening plea, where the Rock is both shelter and the place of cleansing.
Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team
[Verse 1]
Rock of Ages, cleft for me
Let me hide myself in Thee
Let the water and the blood
From Thy wounded side which flow
Be of sin the double cure
Save from wrath and make me pure
[Verse 2]
Could my tears forever flow
Could my zeal no respite know
These for sin could not atone
Thou must save and Thou alone
In my hand no price I bring
Simply to Thy cross I cling
[Chorus]
My Rock, my Fortress
Deliverer and Shield
Unfailing source of strength
You are my stronghold
[Verse 3]
While I draw this fleeting breath
When my eyes shall close in death
When I rise to worlds unknown
And behold Thee on Thy throne
[Chorus]
My Rock, my Fortress
Deliverer and Shield
Unfailing source of strength
You are my stronghold
[Tag]
Oh, yes You are
Oh, yes You are
Yeah
Yeah
Rock of Ages
[Outro]
Rock of Ages, cleft for me
Let me hide myself in Thee