Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Verse 1
Beneath the cross of Je­sus
I fain would take my stand—
The sha­dow of a migh­ty rock
Within a wea­ry land— (Isa. 32:2)
A home with­in the wil­der­ness,
A rest up­on the way,
From the burn­ing of the noon­tide heat, (Isa. 25:4)
And the bur­den of the day. (Matt. 20:12)

Verse 2
O safe and hap­py shel­ter!
O re­fuge tried and sweet! (Ps. 46:1, Ps. 91:1-2)
O tryst­ing place where Heav­en’s love
And Heav­en’s jus­tice meet! (Ps. 85:10)
As to the ex­iled pa­tri­arch
That won­drous dream was giv’n, (Gen. 28:11-12)
So seems my Sav­ior’s cross to me—
A lad­der up to Heav’n!

Verse 3
There lies be­neath its sha­dow
But on the fur­ther side,
The dark­ness of an op­en grave
That gapes both deep and wide;
And there, be­tween us, stands the cross
Two arms out­stretched to save,
Like a watch­man set to guard the way
From that eter­nal grave.

Verse 4
Upon that cross of Je­sus
Mine eye at times can see
The ve­ry dy­ing form of One
Who suf­fered there for me. (Isa. 53:5, Gal. 2:20)
And from my strick­en heart, with tears,
Two won­ders I con­fess—
The won­ders of re­deem­ing love,
And my own worth­less­ness.

Verse 5
I take, O cross, thy sha­dow
For my abid­ing place; (Ps. 91:1, John 15:4)
I ask no oth­er sun­shine
Than the sun­shine of His face; (Num. 6:25, Ps. 4:6, Rev. 21:23)
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss— (Phil. 3:7-8)
My sin­ful self my on­ly shame,
My glo­ry all, the cross! (Gal. 6:14)

Verse 6
Dim eyes for ev­er closed
For house­hold tears or mirth;
A pale face look­ing up to God—
And so, fare­well to earth!
Out to the light be­yond, (Rev. 21:23)
Out of the pain and fear;
Out to the up­per glo­ry there,
Out of the dark­ness here!

Verse 7
Out of the land of death,
Out of the land of doubt,
To en­ter in the in­ner court,
And nev­er more go out! (Rev. 3:12)
The heal­ing and the balm, (Jer. 8:22, Rev. 22:2)
The crown up­on the brow, (II Tim. 4:7-8)
The tri­al o’er, the tri­umph won—
O God! to have this now!

Verse 8
Not so, O Lord, not this
The boon I ask from Thee;
But for Thy strength to do the work
My God hath set for me. (Acts 20:24)
No faith­ful serv­ant he (Matt. 25:21-23)
Who seeks for rest be­fore,
Who faints ere yet the day is done, (Gal. 6:9)
And the ev­en­ing work is o’er. (John 9:4)

Verse 9
I ask a liv­ing faith
Within me to abide;
I ask Thee for a ho­ly heart,
And a Spir­it pu­ri­fied; (Ps. 51:10, Ezek. 36:26-27)
Two will­ing hands to serve,
A pa­tient mind to bear,
And hal­lowed, ear­nest lips to speak (Ps. 51:15)
For Je­sus ev­ery­where. (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8)

Verse 10
Not till the night hath come,
And stars shine out on high,
The dark­ness draw­eth o’er the earth,
The work­ing time is by. (John 9:4)
Then fold the wea­ry hands
Upon the qui­et breast;
Thou faith­ful one, thy work is done— (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15)
Now en­ter in­to rest! (Rev. 14:13, Heb. 4:9-10)