Folk Notes 5 - Sweetly Resting

In the rifted rock I’m resting, Safely sheltered I abide; There no foes nor storms molest me, While within the cleft I hide.Refrain:

Now I’m resting, sweetly resting, In the cleft once made for me; Jesus, blessed Rock of Ages, I will hide myself in Thee.

Long pursued by sin and Satan, Weary, sad, I longed for rest; Then I found this heav’nly shelter Opened in my Savior’s breast.
Peace which passeth understanding, Joy the world can never give, Now in Jesus I am finding, In His smiles of love I live.
In the rifted rock I’ll hide me, Till the storms of life are past; All secure in this blest refuge, Heeding not the fiercest blast.

Mary D James

One of sweetest of all Christian hymn music and made famous by the American Mennonite Choir it has close parallels metaphorically with other great Christian hymns as 'Rock of Ages'

Born: August 10, 1810, Trenton, New Jersey. Died: October 4, 1883, New York City. Buried: Mercer Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey. When she was 13 years old, James began teaching Sunday school in the Methodist Episcopal church. She became a prominent figure in the Wesleyan Holiness movement, assisting Phoebe Palmer, and often leading meetings at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and elsewhere. She wrote about 50 hymns.

©Jeff Guess 2017