When I was a teenager I got an electric guitar for my birthday. I grew up playing and listening to rock music, and even though I’m some way past my teenage years now, I still enjoy a good rock song.
Many rock songs are written with a strong image in mind. You can see this in the titles – “Smoke on the Water”, “Purple Haze”, “Stairway to Heaven”. They give the mind’s eye something to look at, as well as giving the ear something to listen to.
The original Rock Song comes not from Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix but from Moses. His song is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and include the lyrics “Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock…” The image at the centre of this song could not be stronger – God is as solid and monumental as anything Moses had seen in the crags and foothills of the desert.
The song describes God’s character as Moses had come to know him. The challenge to the modern-day reader is to get to know this same God, dependable as a rock in an otherwise shifting world.
Corin Child
St John’s