Ain't No Rock

"Ain't no rock
gonna cry in my place.
As long as I'm alive,
I'll glorify His holy Name!

Well, well, well -
Praise His Holy Name!
As long as I'm alive,
I'll glorify is His holy Name."

James Ward, "Ain't No Rock"


It seems like a thousand years ago now, but my youth group and I used to go to this retreat every January in Gatlinburg called "Resurrection." It was a time of fun and laughs, but also a time for growing closer to the Lord. The Worship Leader each year for as long as I can remember was James Ward. I always enjoyed his music. It was praise and worship with a little oomph! (Don't make fun of me....but for the longest time, I thought he was James Taylor. They do sort of look alike!)

Anyway, he used to sing this song, "Ain't No Rock," which has several more verses than the ones above. But I didn't understand just what this song was really about until many years later.

In Luke 19, the Pharisees got very angry with Jesus. They told Him to scold His disciples for praising Jesus for everything that they had seen Him do. Jesus replies to the Pharisees. "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)

What does that mean? What am I supposed to do with that? Rocks don't have mouths. Stones don't have voices. How is it possible for rocks to cry out?

Rocks and stones and you and I are all a part of God's great creation. You and I were created to praise God. We were given the mouths and the voices. Jesus was telling the Pharisees then and us today, that if you and I don't do what we were created to do, another of God's creation will step in and take our places. I don't know about you....but I don't want Jesus to be listening for the praising and worshipping of Casey and hear rocks instead. I pray that I might be like the prophet Jeremiah who said these words:

But if I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.

Jeremiah 20:9


I pray that the Word of God becomes such a fire in my soul that I can't help but shout out in praise to Him. I pray that rocks never have to cry out in my place. I pray that rocks never sing the praises you and I were meant to sing to our Saviour. It is my deepest desire that, when Jesus listens to the saints singing and worshipping Him, he hears each of our voices and is pleased.

Praise Him! Praise God today! Turn up the praise music! Do a Jesus-jig! Shout! Sing! Dance! Don't let those rocks steal the privilege we have of honoring the Most High King with our voices!