7.6.8.6.8.6.8.6.
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 the burning of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.
2
O safe and happy shelter!
O refuge tried and sweet!
O trysting-place where heaven’s love
And heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Saviour’s cross to me
A ladder up to heaven.
3
There lies beneath its shadow,
But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful 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.
4
Upon that cross of Jesus,
My eye at times would see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart, with tears,
Two wonders I’d confess –
The wonders of His glorious love,
And my own worthlessness.
5
I’d take, O cross, thy 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 nor loss –
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all – the cross.
