PROGRAM NOTE
Two hymns of assurance are brought together in this setting as a reminder that in Jesus, we as Christians are “hidden in the cleft of the Rock.” Augustus Toplady, caught by a sudden storm in a field in 1776, saw a large boulder and found a crack into which he fit. While waiting out the storm, Toplady reflected how Christ, who is called the Rock of Salvation, was broken that we might find shelter from impending judgement, and penned these immortal words.
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgement throne
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Over a century later, Fanny Crosby was reflecting on the passage found in Exodus 33 when Moses asked the Lord to show him His presence. God acquiesced to Moses’ request and assured him, “I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand.”
1. A wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord, He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
A wonderful Saviour to me; That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
Where rivers of pleasure I see. And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord,
A wonderful Saviour to me;
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
Where rivers of pleasure I see.
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.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Dr. Harold Burgmayer served as Divisional Music Director for the USA Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division from 1981 to 2015, where he conducted and wrote extensively for the Pendel Brass and Singers. From 2015 until his retirement in early 2022, Harold assumed the role of Territorial Music Secretary for the USA Central Territory, where he was responsible for the Chicago Staff Band and the Central Territorial Staff Songsters, for which he arranged over 40 pieces, as well as gave oversight to the publication of the American Festival Series and the Hallelujah Choruses series.
