Beneath the Cross of Jesus - Hymn Lyrics

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.

• Text: Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1830–1869)

• Tune: St. Christopher by Frederick C. Maker (1881)

Elizabeth Clephane was a gentle Scottish woman who lived a short and largely hidden life. Frail in health but strong in spirit, she wrote only a few hymns, most of them published posthumously. Two of her best-known contributions to hymnody are “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” and “The Ninety and Nine.”

Written in 1868, just a year before her death, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” reveals the heart of someone who had suffered much but found deep rest in the presence of Christ. She was known for her quiet charity and humble service, giving away most of her income to help the poor around her town of Melrose, Scotland.

“Beneath the Cross of Jesus” isn’t grand or triumphant—it is tender. It pictures the cross as more than a symbol of suffering; it is a place of shelter, shade, and peace. For the weary, the wounded, and the humble, the cross is a “mighty Rock within a weary land.”

In the second verse, Clephane writes of two powerful realizations: the immense love of Christ, and her own unworthiness. These are not mournful thoughts—they are liberating. They lead to the beautiful resolve of the final stanza: to live in the shadow of the cross, desiring no other light than the face of Jesus.