“Bow down thine ear to me;
deliver me speedily:
be thou my strong rock,
for an house of defense to save me.”
Psalm 31:2
Hiding in Thee
Composed by Ira D. Sankey *
Lyrics by William Orcutt Cushing **
Oh, safe to the Rock that is higher than I,
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly,
So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine would I be,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.
Chorus
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.
In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,
In times when temptation casts o’er me its power;
In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.
[Chorus]
How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe,,
How often, when trials like sea-billows roll,
Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.
[Chorus]
* Ira David Sankey was born in Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1840. About 1856 he removed with his parents to Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Four years afterwards he became the Superintendent of a large Sunday School in which he commenced his career of singing sacred songs and solos. Mr. Moody met with him and heard him sing at the International Convention of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), at Indianapolis, and through Mr. Moody’s persuasion he joined him in his work at Chicago. After some two or three years’ work in Chicago, they sailed for England on June 7, 1872, and held their first meeting at York a short time afterwards, only eight persons being present. Today he is considered one of the most popular composers of evangelistic hymns.
** William Orcutt Cushing’s hymn was the outgrowth of many tears, of which he wrote “many heart conflicts, and yearnings of which the world can know nothing – it is the history of many battles.” In 1876, Ira D. Sankey asked of Cushing, “send me something new to help me in my gospel work.” Cushing wrote back, “as I waited on God, I began to think of the safety of being in Christ Jesus”. The words began to make themselves known, and soon the poem was on its way to Mr. Sankey. The hymn became, “Hiding in Thee.” The scriptural basis for these lyrics is Psalm 31:2 “Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.”