After four albums released on a record label, Jimmy Needham is now an independent artist who recently released The Hymns Sessions Vol. 1. The album features several new arrangements of well-known hymns of the faith like "Great is Thy Faithfulness," "How Great Thou Art," "Joyful Joyful" and "It is Well," combined with some original hymns, "The Gospel" and "It is Finished."

Jimmy's soulful voice and personal lyrics are very engaging and every song puts me right there with him. I had the chance to speak with Jimmy about his great version of "Rock of Ages."

Please tell me about the background message behind the song.

Most of the hymns on this record were discovered by me in college, actually. I wasn't raised in a Christian home. I'd never heard Michael W. Smith growing up, much less "How Great Thou Art." When I got to college, the church I attended happened to do a lot of hymns. At that point I had become a student of theology, and the guys who invested in me in high school when I became a Christian were big on me having a robust view of God, and the doctrines of God, and grace.

What I've always loved about the hymns that unfortunately we don't see as much in modern worship music, is the thoroughness with which they convey Gospel reality. The closest thing that we see to that today in the Christian music world is found in Christian hip-hop, actually. I think they do the best job these days of really articulating Gospel truths. That's partly because you can pack 1,000 words into a song.

I remember hearing these songs, and I was so captivated by some of the imagery, "Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress." What I appreciate about this song in particular is that the song is an appeal to no other object or activity but the grace of God for my salvation, for my protection from His wrath. I think that is one of the most central Gospel truths. The Christian has no grounds to boast on anything they bring to the table save for the grace of God. I feel like that was the mission of the writer of this song. In my live concerts, I find it really important to paint accurate pictures of the Gospel. I have a really easy job ahead of me singing these songs as they do that very nicely. I picked the song and decided to spice it up a bit musically.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Isaiah 26:4 (The Voice): "So trust in the Eternal One forever, for He is like a great Rock—strong, stable, trustworthy, and lasting." 

What's the takeaway message?

The song can be so common that it can be taken for granted, kind of like "How Great Thou Art." We hear them so much that sometimes some of the mystery and wonder can be lost. Truth be told, there's some wonderful weighty concepts and archaic language that you have to sift through.

When you think about the lyrics: "Rock of Ages, cleft for me let me hide myself in Thee; let the water and the blood, from Thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure," who talks like that? The language is fairly complex.

What I've appreciated about hymns and what I strive for in my own writing is that strictly on a musical and artistic level, I appreciate songs from me and from others that force the listener to think a little bit to grasp the meaning. If you have to fight to understand something, at the end of the fight, if you grasp the truth, you own it in a way you wouldn't have if it was just spelled out plainly. Maybe that wasn't the case when hymns were written, but now we're forced to do a little bit of labor. What is this double cure? I appreciate that it makes me fight to understand the words.

This song should cause us to repent as Christians. Tim Keller has a quote about Christian repentance, "The irreligious person doesn't repent of anything, and the religious person repents only of their bad deeds, but a Christian is unique in that they have to repent of their bad deeds and their good deeds before God." A Christian needs to stand before God and say, "nothing in my hand I bring." I'm not only sorry for all of the bad things I've done in my life, but I'm also sorry for all the things I've tried to do good and therefore avoided Christ the Savior in my life. Instead, I just have the Cross the boast in. On the surface, we are about good works, but the real good works of Gospel living come from the fact that we don't have anything good to bring on our own. That's one of the themes this song touches on which is such a treasure to me.

Lyrics:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die,
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See the arm of judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

This song was written by Augustus Toplady in 1776. Like Jimmy, I also didn't grow up as a Christian or listening to hymns in my youth. I wasn't saved until after college in my twenties. As a result, I have an emotional connection to the truth of hymns. The truth of the words cut very close to my heart. I did live my life clinging to something other than Jesus. I did have idols in my life other than Jesus. I can sing this song with an abandon partly because I have regrets that I lived any of my life without knowing these truths.

That's partly why a hymn like this song really comes alive for me when I hear Jimmy sing it. I agree with and say Amen to every single word of this song. Jesus is our Rock of Ages, and not the Def Leppard song I sang growing up. We know Jesus is from Age to Age, from the Beginning and before He created the world, He was. God is ageless, and we also know that's "there is nothing we can bring and simply to the Cross we cling." That was the truth I needed to hear to become a born again believer. I thought I could somehow bring something to the equation. Now that I know that that I have nothing to offer, those words have a deep meaning to followers of Jesus.

This song takes my Christianity back to the basics, and makes me labor and think about whether I think I am bringing anything to the table. Apart from Jesus, I have nothing to offer. In that sense, all Christians can and should do a gut check when they sing this song, and think about whether they trusting in the Lord only for their salvation, for their security and for their atonement and grace. The song is truly a devotional challenge to think about whether we are putting all of our trust in our Eternal Rock Jesus, as in Isaiah 26, which also reads in verse 8: "…Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." Amen.

(You can listen to the song here.)