Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.
Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me,
Show Thy face and all is bright.
Man may trouble and distress me,
’Twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me;
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmixed with Thee.
Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.
Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine.
Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven’s eternal days before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
“Jesus I My Cross Have Taken.” What a song. I could literally devote a whole blog to this hymn. Nevertheless, I will attempt to keep this fairly short. I am drawing a lot of my information off of two sources: 101 More Hymn Stories by Kenneth Osbeck and Kevin Twit’s introduction to this song at the Indelible Grace Hymn Sing in Nashville, TN. This hymn was written by Henry Lyte in 1824. The story of Henry Lyte is one of the most intriguing and humbling stories that I have come across in my brief study of hymns.
Lyte lived a very depressing and trying life. Lyte’s father and mother split up while Lyte was at a very young age, essentially making him an orphan. He was then put in boarding school where his teachers discovered his talent for writing. Kevin Twit mentions that while at school, Lyte’s father would write to him but sign the letters as “Your Uncle,” refusing to allow his own son to call him “Father.” Twit says during the introduction:
“In every one of his hymns - whether its Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, Abide With Me, or Jesus I My Cross Have taken- for every one of them, the father image for him is a warm and comforting one. Which I think just shows the power of the gospel and the Scriptures to deconstruct and reconstruct even something so basic as ‘What does it mean to have a father?’”
There is one theme that I wanted to focus on when examining this song. No matter how down in the dumps we are, our God is always good and is always watching over us. We will all go through trials and hardships, some not quite as hard as Lyte went through, others worse. 1 Corinthians 10:13 say, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” God is faithful to us, even when we feel like that there is no way God can be present at a certain point. In this hymn Lyte brings up his hardships in several places (“human hearts and looks deceive me,” “foes may hate and friends disown me,” “man may trouble and distress me,” “life with trials hard may press me,” to name a few). But the interesting thing is that he does not wallow in self-pity as I would, he follows all these statements with reassurance about how God is still on his side (“God and Heaven are still my own,” “Thou from hence my all shall be,” “show thy face and all is bright,” “think that Jesus died to win thee,” “Heaven will bring me sweeter rest,” among others).
The last three verses tie the entire hymn together. The fourth verse, Lyte is basically saying “bring it on” because “In Thy service, pain is pleasure, With Thy favor, loss is gain.” Even though these are true statements, he still longs for Jesus’ return. The final verse begins with “haste thee on from grace to glory” and mentions “Soon shall close thy earthly mission, Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days.” Oh what a glorious day that will be when Jesus returns! We should rejoice with Lyte and long for the days when we no longer hope, but have glad fruition, and we no longer have faith, but sight, and we no longer pray, but praise. This hymn applies the gospel to everyday life. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22).
If you are like me and typically scroll down past the lyrics of the hymn and just read the commentaries, I would strongly encourage you to scroll back up and read the lyrics of each verse and reflect upon them. These are some of the most beautiful verses I have ever read.
