The Hiding Place
Hail, sovereign love that first began,
The scheme to rescue fallen man;
Hail matchless free eternal grace,
That gave my soul a hiding place.
Against the God who rules the sky,
I fought with hand uplifted high,
Despised the mention of His grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place.
Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night,
And fond of darkness more than light,
Madly I ran the sinful race,
Secure without a hiding place.
But thus th’ eternal counsel ran,
“Almighty Love, arrest that man!”
I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place.
Indignant justice stood in view,
To Sinai’s fiery mount I flew,
But Justice cried with frowning face,
“This mountain is no hiding place!”
Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy’s angel form appeared.
Who led me on with gentle pace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place.
On Him Almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell;
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their hiding place.
Should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll,
And shake this earth from pole to pole;
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my hiding place.
A few more rolling suns at most,
Shall land me safe on Heaven’s coast.
There I shall sing the song of grace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place!
The scheme to rescue fallen man;
Hail matchless free eternal grace,
That gave my soul a hiding place.
Against the God who rules the sky,
I fought with hand uplifted high,
Despised the mention of His grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place.
Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night,
And fond of darkness more than light,
Madly I ran the sinful race,
Secure without a hiding place.
But thus th’ eternal counsel ran,
“Almighty Love, arrest that man!”
I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place.
Indignant justice stood in view,
To Sinai’s fiery mount I flew,
But Justice cried with frowning face,
“This mountain is no hiding place!”
Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy’s angel form appeared.
Who led me on with gentle pace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place.
On Him Almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell;
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their hiding place.
Should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll,
And shake this earth from pole to pole;
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my hiding place.
A few more rolling suns at most,
Shall land me safe on Heaven’s coast.
There I shall sing the song of grace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place!
I'm thinking about doing a special for church and singing this. I'd have to do a little arranging but the melody is so haunting and beautiful that I'm pretty sure I couldn't mess it up.
For some reason I really and truly love these lyrics. I guess partly due to the descriptive and poetic, yet very powerful words and allegory. It displays so passionately the plight of a sinful man in such a hideous rebellious state, and the beautiful grace that comes to his rescue. Who led me on with gentle pace~ how awesome that our Lord not only saves the lost, but even more, emphathizes with the frailty of his creation and the need to gently lead a man to Calvary.
I guess I'm just all too familiar with the "arrows of distress" when my guilty conscience was laid under seige and I truly found I had no Hiding Place. What grace! What matchless love that labored with my faltering soul! Who indeed, led me on with gentle pace, and continues to do so even now. My Lord knows my frailties, He remembers that I am only dust. He also knows exactly how to take my heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh - a heart capable of the utmost love and adoration for my Saviour. Where once there was only hate and death, now there is love and life...forevermore.
Have you found your Hiding Place?
