The Cyber Hymnal ‎#5037

5037. O Jesus, Thou Art Standing

1. O Jesus, Thou art standing,
outside the fast closed door,
In lowly patience waiting
to pass the threshold o’er:
Shame on us, Christian brothers,
His name and sign who bear,
O shame, thrice shame upon us,
to keep Him standing there!

2. O Jesus, Thou art knocking;
and lo, that hand is scarred,
And thorns Thy brow encircle,
and tears Thy face have marred:
O love that passeth knowledge,
so patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal,
so fast to bar the gate!

3. O Jesus, Thou art pleading
in accents meek and low,
"I died for you, My children,
and will you treat Me so?"
O Lord, with shame and sorrow
we open now the door;
Dear Savior, enter, enter,
and leave us nevermore.

Text Information

• First Line: O Jesus, Thou art standing
• Title: O Jesus, Thou Art Standing
• Author: William W. How (1867)
• Meter: 76.76 D
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: I com­posed the hymn ear­ly in 1867, after I had been read­ing a very beau­ti­ful poem, entitled, “Bro­thers and a Ser­mon.” The pa­thos of the vers­es im­pressed me very for­ci­bly at the time. I read them over and over again, and fin­al­ly, clos­ing the book, I scrib­bled on an old scrap of pa­per my first idea of the vers­es, be­gin­ning, "O Jesus, Thou art stand­ing." I al­tered them a good deal sub­se­quent­ly, but I am for­tu­nate in be­ing able to say that af­ter the hymn left my hands it was ne­ver re­vised or al­tered in any way. Nutter, p. 152. Al­ter­nate tunes: MOSSLEIGH, How­ard A. Cros­bie, 1844-?; ST. CATHERINE (DALE), Re­gin­ald F. Dale, 1861

Tune Information

• Name: ST. EDITH
• Composer: Jus­tin H. Knecht (1799)
• Composer: Ed­ward Hus­band (1871)
• Meter: 76.76 D
• Key: A Major
• Copyright: Public Domain