The famous Rock of Gibraltar is located on a narrow peninsula on the southern coast of Spain, near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is truly something to behold. A huge limestone mass, it is 1,398 feet high. It occupies nearly all of Gibraltar’s two and a half square miles. It is officially a British overseas territory.
One of the highlights of visiting St. Michael’s Cave at the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in Gibraltar is the encounter that you will certainly have with what are known as semi-wild apes. This is the home to 160 of them, and they are all over the place. On the sidewalks. Ledges. Trees. If you ever visit there, let me warn you of something. Do NOT have anything to eat in your hands in their presence. They will steal it from you.
Back to the rock. I guess the preacher-part of me couldn’t help it. But all during our visit to the Rock of Gibraltar, I kept singing to myself, “Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”
I looked it up when I returned home. The old hymn was written by Rev. August Toplady in 1763 when he took shelter in a storm in Burrington Combe, a magnificent rock formation in England.
The scripture affirms: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2)
May this be true for our lives today. May we trust in our Creator as our rock, our fortress, our deliverer.