I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy đ. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.
Today’s song is Beneath the Cross of Jesus.
The hymn was written by Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane (1830â1869), a Scottish poet. I think that I first heard it in Wales in the early 1990s. We should focus on the lyrics rather than the tune, but strangely, the tune and the hymn title was the key thing for me. It just drew me closer to Jesus.
It’s a very poetic hymn, which should be no surprise, given that it was written by a poet.
1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand;
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From burns beneath the noontide heat
And burdens of the day.
2. Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eyes at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffer'd there for me;
And from my striken heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess:
The wonders of redeeming love,
And my unworthiness.
3. O safe and happy shelter!
O refuge tried and sweet!
O sacred place where Heaven's love
And Heaven's justice meet!
As to the exil'd patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Savior's cross to me:
A ladder up to Heav'n.
4. I take, O cross, your shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain or loss;
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.
The imagery is partly based on the Old Testament. Here in Ireland, we don’t get much sun. We generally want to shelter from the rain đ. But in a hot desert, you can imagine the delight of finding an area of shadow beneath a rock.
But it isn’t just about day-today relief from life’s burdens. It’s our way to heaven. Just as Jacob had a dream in Genesis 28 of a ladder up to heaven, Jesus came into the world to provide a way to heaven. The hymn speaks of the wonders of redeeming love and our unworthiness to receive it. It also speaks of “a sacred place where Heaven’s love and Heaven’s justice meet.
People often speak of the love of God. It’s less common to hear about God’s justice, but as you read the Scripture, both Old and New Testament, it’s clear that God is holy and just, and He doesn’t let sin go unpunished. And out of love for us, God sent His Son to bear the punishment for the sin that we should have taken, and that we will take if we don’t avail of His offer of salvation. In addition to providing our salvation, the cross of Christ motivates us to live for Him and to do our utmost to avoid the sin that caused Him to have to come and die for us.
People debate about the precise nature of the atonement. It does have different facets, but Jesus did bear our sins on the cross:
1 Corinthian’s 15:3
 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 2:24
âHe himself bore our sinsâ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; âby his wounds you have been healed.â
1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 