1 Must Jesus bear the cross alone
And all the world go free?
No, there's a cross for ev'ry one,
And there's a cross for me.
2 The consecrated cross I'll bear
Till death shall set me free,
And then go home my crown to wear,
For there's a crown for me.
3 Upon the crystal pavement, down
At Jesus' pierced feet,
Joyful, I'll cast my golden crown
And His dear name repeat.
4 O precious cross! O glorious crown!
O resurrection day!
Ye angels, from the stars come down
And bear my soul away.
Source: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: an African American ecumenical hymnal #424
First Line: | Must Jesus bear the cross alone |
Title: | Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone |
Author: | Thomas Shepherd (1693) |
Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Must Jesus bear the cross alone? [No Cross no Crown.] This hymn is found in the following forms:—
1. In 3 stanzas of 4 lines in H. W. Beecher's Plymouth Collection, 1855, No. 770, where it is signed "G. N. Allen." American authorities inform us that this was taken from G. N. Allen's collection The Social and Sabbath Hymn Book, 1849. In this form stanza i. is altered from T. Shepherd's Penitential Cries, 1693, No. 23, stanza iii., and stanza ii. is found in a missionary collection published at Norwich (England), circa 1810. To these three stanzas three others were added in the Plymouth Collection, which are ascribed to the editor's brother, C. Beecher (p. 125, ii.).
2. In the American Meth. Episcopal Hymnal, 1878, the 3 stanzas from Allen's collection as above are given as by "Thomas Shepherd, alt." G. N. Allen was born in 1812, and died in 1877.
3. In the Oberlin Manual of Praise, 1880, No. 416 is composed of 4 stanzas, of which stanza ii. is unknown to the Plymouth Collection
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)