The Lord is my rock
My fortress and my savior
My God is my rock
In whom I find protection
Lead me to the towering rock of safety
God is my refuge
The rock where no enemy can reach
Yes he is my father
And the rock of my salvation
Let me trust him for he is my place of shelter
The Lord is good, my rock
And there is no evil in him
Righteousness and justice
Are the foundations of his throne
It shall stand from everlasting to everlasting
Yes the Lord is my fortress
The mighty rock where I hide
Let us shout joyfully
To the rock of our salvation
He will judge the nations with his truth
And Jesus is this Christ
The son of the living God
I, Peter, the Rock
Confess this truth
And on this rock Jesus will build his church
Excellent
What’s a church?
The primary reference here is probably obvious.
What may not be so obvious is the depth of Old Testament reference material behind Jesus’ words “upon this rock.” This isn’t about Peter at all, but about Jesus’ identity as the foretold savior. Peter is dead on in his statement about who Jesus is, of course; but it’s really little credit to him.
I had been reading a sequence of “rock” Psalms leading up this passage in the Gospels, and it couldn’t be more obvious — especially to a first-century messianic Hebrew.
cf Psalm 18:2, 61:2, 62:7, 89:14, 89:26, 91:2, 92:15, 93:2, 94:22, and 95:1 for just a smattering.
(Also a very subconscious nod to Bill Cosby here. Jenn pointed out certain similarities to his Noah routine after the fact…)