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 NIV
Rock
It’s no wonder that the beloved nickname for Newfoundland and Labrador is “The Rock.” The province boasts fossils and geological features not found anywhere else on the continent, from ancient rocks to the first sign of multicellular life on Earth and exposed pieces of the Earth’s mantle. The geology of the western part of Newfoundland and Labrador includes basement rocks formed as part of the Grenville Province, a geological section of the Canadian Shield, and Labrador and the Avalonian microcontinent in the east.
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I grew up in Thunder Bay, in the heart of the Canadian Shield. The scenery is stunning – a land of lakes and rocks, making for some of the most beautiful vistas in the world. We took rocky land for granted, and I learned young that when you built a house on the rock, it was secure. Israel is also a land of rock – it was on the Mount of Olives that Jesus said if we don’t praise Him, even the rocks will cry out. That would be quite the noise – there are rocks everywhere on that Mount. So King David knew exactly what He was saying when he wrote about rocks in Psalm 18:2: “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.” When I was younger, and reading these verses living in the midst of the Canadian Shield, I would think “God must be something – he is like the Canadian Shield!” David wasn’t speaking about THAT shield here, but he is reminding us that the Lord is like an immovable, stable rock, and we are wise to build on our lives on Him.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley