Beneath the Cross of Jesus is a Passion hymn by the Scottish poet Elizabeth C. Clephane, written shortly before her death in 1869 and published in 1872; its usual tune, ST. CHRISTOPHER, was written by Frederick C. Maker in 1881. It pictures the cross as the shade of a great rock in a hot desert, a place of rest, refuge and meeting with God. The image comes from Isaiah 32:2: as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Elizabeth Clephane grew up in Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, and was frail all her short life. She and her sister gave away so much to the poor of the town that local people called her the Sunbeam. She wrote only a handful of poems, and none were published while she lived; she died in 1869 at 38. Three years later a Scottish magazine printed them under the title Breathings on the Border. One of them, The Ninety and Nine, became famous when Ira Sankey sang it at a Moody meeting in Edinburgh in 1874. Another was this meditation on the cross. Most hymnals today print three of its stanzas, but the full poem has five, including a striking picture of the cross standing between the sinner and the grave like a watchman with outstretched arms. Here are all five, and 12 KJV passages that stand behind them.
Beneath the Cross of Jesus: the words
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 3
There lies beneath its shadow,
But on the further 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.
Verse 4
Upon that Cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love,
And my own worthlessness.
Verse 5
I 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.
Words: Elizabeth C. Clephane (1830-1869), Melrose, Scotland, written about 1868 and published after her death in The Family Treasury (Edinburgh, 1872) among her poems Breathings on the Border; music: Frederick C. Maker, ST. CHRISTOPHER (1881). Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (1894), hymn 32 (Internet Archive scan), which prints all five stanzas; the scan's noon-tide is printed noontide, its Oh trysting-place is printed O like the two lines before it, and its Holy Patriarch is lower-cased. Most modern hymnals print only stanzas 1, 4 and 5. The modern song Beneath the Cross by Keith and Kristyn Getty is a separate, copyrighted work. Public domain.
The shadow of a mighty Rock: rest in a weary land
1. Isaiah 32:2
"And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
The first stanza is built on this prophecy: And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Isaiah promises a righteous King whose rule will shelter His people. In the Judean desert, the shadow of a large rock could be the difference between life and death in the noontide heat. Clephane saw that promise fulfilled at the cross. The burning heat and the burden of the day describe life in a fallen world; the cross is where Christ gives rest.
2. Psalms 91:1
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The hymn's last stanza says, I take, O Cross, thy shadow for my abiding place. Clephane joins Psalm 91's word abide with the shadow of the cross. To abide is to stay, to live somewhere permanently, not to visit. The believer does not run to the cross only in emergencies. He makes it his home. For a full study, see our page on Psalm 91.
3. Psalms 61:3
"For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."
O safe and happy shelter, O refuge tried and sweet. David wrote, For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. He prayed this from the end of the earth (Psalm 61:2), far from home and overwhelmed. Clephane's word tried means tested and proven. The cross is not an untested hiding place. Generations of believers have fled to it in guilt, grief and fear and found it holds. The psalm goes on, Lead me to the rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2).
4. Psalms 85:10
"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."
The second stanza calls the cross a trysting-place, where Heaven's love and Heaven's justice meet. A tryst is an arranged meeting, usually of lovers. Psalm 85 uses a similar picture: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. At first sight, God's love and God's justice seem to pull in opposite directions. Love wants to forgive; justice demands that sin be punished. At the cross they meet, because the punishment falls on Jesus and the forgiveness comes to us. See also our verses on mercy.
A ladder up to heaven: two arms outstretched to save
5. Genesis 28:12
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it."
As to the holy patriarch that wondrous dream was given. The patriarch is Jacob, running from his brother Esau, sleeping with a stone for a pillow. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Jacob woke and said, Surely the LORD is in this place (Genesis 28:16). Clephane sees the cross as Jacob's ladder: a way between earth and heaven set up exactly where a guilty runaway lies, so seems my Saviour's Cross to me, a ladder up to heaven.
6. John 1:51
"And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
Clephane did not invent the link between Jacob's ladder and Christ. Jesus made it Himself, speaking to Nathanael: Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Jesus is the ladder. In Jacob's dream the ladder was something God set up; in the gospel, God came down it Himself in the person of His Son. The cross is where that ladder was planted in the ground. Through Christ, and through no one else, heaven is opened to sinners.
7. Romans 3:26
"To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
Paul explains the trysting-place of love and justice: God set forth Christ as a sacrifice To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. God could have been just by condemning everyone. He could have seemed loving by ignoring sin, but then He would not be just. At the cross He is both: just, because sin is punished, and the justifier, because the guilty who believe go free. That is the meeting Clephane celebrates in her second stanza.
8. John 12:32
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
The third stanza, left out of most modern hymnals, pictures the cross standing between us and the grave: Two arms outstretched to save, like a watchman set to guard the way. Jesus said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John adds that He said this signifying what death He should die (John 12:33). The arms of the cross stretch out in welcome. The same cross that blocks the road to the awful grave opens the road to life. Read more Bible verses about the cross.
My glory all the Cross: the sinner's only boast
9. Luke 18:13
"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."
The fourth stanza confesses two wonders: the wonders of His glorious love, and my own worthlessness. That second wonder sounds harsh to modern ears, but it is the posture of the man Jesus praised in His parable. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus said this man, not the proud Pharisee, went home justified (Luke 18:14). Seeing our unworthiness is not self-hatred. It is honesty, and it makes Christ's love more amazing, not less.
10. Galatians 6:14
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
The hymn's last line, My glory all the Cross, is Paul's boast: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. In Paul's day the cross was the most shameful death imaginable, reserved for slaves and rebels. Boasting in it was absurd to the Roman mind. Clephane follows Paul: My sinful self, my only shame. Everything else we might boast in falls away. The only thing worth glorying in is what Christ did there.
Sing it: Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, lyrics and meaning.
11. Philippians 3:8
"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss. Paul had been a rising star in Judaism, and he gave it all up: I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Clephane, who gave away most of her money to the poor of Melrose, knew what this looked like in practice. Once Christ is our treasure, the world's gains and losses stop ruling us. We can let the world go by because we already have the one thing that cannot be taken away. See also our page on contentment.
12. Numbers 6:25
"The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:"
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face. The phrase echoes the priestly blessing God gave Aaron: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The cross gives shadow from the burning heat of the world and God's judgment, and in that very shadow the believer finds the light of God's face shining in favor. The two images belong together. For the full blessing, see our page on Numbers 6:24-26.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, I take my stand beneath Your cross. In this weary land, be my shadow from the burning heat and my rest from the burden of the day. Thank You that at the cross Heaven's love and Heaven's justice met, and that Your outstretched arms stand between me and the grave. When I see what You suffered for me, I confess the wonder of Your love and my own unworthiness. Let me abide in Your shadow, ask no other sunshine than Your face, and glory in nothing but the cross. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Beneath the Cross of Jesus?
Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane (1830-1869) of Melrose, Scotland, wrote the words about 1868. They were published after her death in The Family Treasury in 1872. She also wrote The Ninety and Nine. The tune most people sing, ST. CHRISTOPHER, was composed by the English organist Frederick C. Maker in 1881.
What does trysting-place mean in Beneath the Cross of Jesus?
A trysting-place is an agreed meeting place, often of two people who love each other. Clephane calls the cross the place where Heaven's love and Heaven's justice meet. At the cross God's justice punished sin and His love forgave sinners at the same moment, as Psalm 85:10 and Romans 3:26 describe.
How many verses does Beneath the Cross of Jesus have?
Clephane's poem has five stanzas. Most modern hymnals print three: Beneath the cross of Jesus, Upon that cross of Jesus and I take, O cross, thy shadow. The two middle stanzas, O safe and happy shelter (with Jacob's ladder) and There lies beneath its shadow (with the cross as a watchman), were in older books such as Gospel Hymns (1894) and are printed in full on this page.
Is Beneath the Cross of Jesus in the public domain?
Yes. Clephane's words were published in 1872 and Maker's tune in 1881, so both are in the public domain in the United States. The modern song Beneath the Cross by Keith and Kristyn Getty is a different, copyrighted work.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross · The Old Rugged Cross · O Sacred Head, Now Wounded · Lent Hymns · Rock of Ages · The Cross · Good Friday · Rest
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