Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, often called Near the Cross, is a gospel hymn written in 1869 by Fanny Crosby to a tune by William H. Doane. It is a prayer to stay close to the place where we were saved: the cross, where a precious fountain flows, where love and mercy found a trembling soul, and where the believer wants to live from day to day. Its refrain, In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever, echoes Galatians 6:14: God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as a baby and went on to write more than eight thousand hymns. Many of them began as tunes. William Doane, a businessman and composer from Cincinnati, would send her a melody, and she would listen to it and write words that seemed to belong to it. Near the Cross came that way in 1869. It is not a hymn about the first day of faith only. It asks to stay near the cross for life: to keep returning to the fountain, to keep the scenes of Calvary in view, and to walk every day under its shadow until reaching the rest beyond the river. Below are the four verses and refrain as printed in 1894, followed by 12 KJV passages that stand behind the hymn, from the fountain foretold by Zechariah to the rest that remains for the people of God.
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: the words
Verse 1
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Verse 2
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the Bright and Morning Star
Shed its beams around me.
Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Verse 3
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o'er me.
Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Verse 4
Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.
Refrain:
In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Words: Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915), written in 1869 to a tune sent to her by William H. Doane, and first published in Bright Jewels for the Sunday School (1869). Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (New York and Chicago, 1894), hymn 598, checked against Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876) and Hymns Consolation (Bliss), all Internet Archive scans; the 1894 dash in verse 1 (Free to all, a healing stream) is printed here as a comma. Music: Near the Cross, William Howard Doane (1869). Public domain.
There a precious fountain: the healing stream from Calvary
1. Zechariah 13:1
"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."
The hymn's first picture is a precious fountain flowing from Calvary's mountain. It comes from Zechariah's prophecy: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. The day Zechariah means is the day when Israel looks on the One they pierced (Zechariah 12:10). A fountain is not a basin that runs dry; it keeps flowing. Crosby calls it free to all, a healing stream. Anyone may come and be washed from sin, as often as they need. William Cowper's hymn There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood comes from the same verse.
2. John 19:34
"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."
John, standing at the cross, saw something he never forgot. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. He adds that he is telling the truth so that we may believe. The blood and water confirmed that Jesus had truly died, and Christians have long seen them as signs of what His death gives: the blood that pays for sin and the water that cleanses and gives life. Crosby's precious fountain flowing from Calvary is this stream. Rock of Ages asks to be cleansed by the same water and the blood.
3. Revelation 22:1
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."
The refrain looks ahead: Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. At the end of the Bible John sees a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The fountain at Calvary becomes the river in the city of God. The same Lamb who was slain is on the throne, and life flows from Him forever. Gospel hymns often speak of heaven as beyond the river, borrowing from Israel crossing the Jordan into the promised land. Crosby's hymn connects the two ends of that story: the cross now, the river then.
4. Isaiah 12:3
"Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Isaiah wrote these words as part of a song for the day of God's salvation, and the people of Israel later sang them during the Feast of Tabernacles, when water was poured out at the temple. On the last day of that feast Jesus stood up and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink (John 7:37). Near the Cross is a hymn of drawing water. The believer keeps coming back to the well, not out of duty but with joy, because the fountain never fails.
Near the cross a trembling soul: love and mercy found me
5. 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 refrain, In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever, is Paul's great 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. To glory means to boast or take pride in something. In Paul's world the cross was the most shameful thing imaginable. Paul boasted in nothing else, not his education, his background or his achievements. Crosby asks for the same heart: let the cross, not my gifts or success, be my glory. See our Bible verses about the cross.
6. Revelation 22:16
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
The second verse says that near the cross the Bright and Morning Star shed its beams around me. Jesus gives Himself this title in the last chapter of the Bible: I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. The morning star is the last star still shining before dawn, the sign that night is ending. Crosby, who could not see the stars, sang of Christ as the light who found her. For anyone sitting in darkness, the cross is where the light first breaks through. See our page on names of Jesus for more of His titles.
7. 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."
Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me. Jesus told of a tax collector who came to the temple trembling: 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 went home justified, made right with God, rather than the proud Pharisee beside him. The hymn's word found is important. The trembling soul does not find mercy by searching hard enough. Love and mercy find the one who comes empty-handed, as the publican did.
8. Psalms 34:18
"The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Near the Cross is a prayer to be near God, but this verse shows that God comes near first. He is nigh to the brokenhearted. The trembling soul at the cross is not kept at a distance. Fanny Crosby's life included real sorrows: blindness from infancy, poverty and the death of her only child as a baby. Her hymns are full of nearness because she knew that God draws close to those who are crushed. See our Bible verses for a broken heart.
Help me walk from day to day: living near the cross
9. Luke 9:23
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
The third verse prays, Help me walk from day to day, with its shadows o'er me. Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Note the word daily. The cross is not only where the Christian life starts; it is how the Christian life is lived. To take up the cross means saying no to self and yes to Christ each day. Walking with its shadows o'er me is Crosby's way of saying that the cross should shape every ordinary day, our choices, our words and our attitudes.
10. 1 Corinthians 1:18
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."
Why would anyone want to live near a symbol of death? Paul explains: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. To the watching world, a crucified Saviour looks weak and foolish. To those who have been rescued by Him, the cross is where God's power was displayed, defeating sin and death by apparent defeat. Crosby's prayer to stay near the cross is a prayer to stay near the power of God. Believers drift into weakness when they move away from the cross, and find strength when they return to it.
11. Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me. Hebrews tells believers to keep the same view: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. The race of faith is run with eyes on Jesus. He endured the cross because He looked ahead to the joy of bringing many sons to glory, and He is now seated at God's right hand. When Crosby asks to have the scenes of Calvary before her, she is asking to run the race the way Hebrews describes, looking unto Jesus.
12. Hebrews 4:9
"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."
The hymn ends with the believer watching and waiting, hoping and trusting, till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river. Hebrews promises: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. The rest is the Sabbath rest of God Himself, entered fully when the journey is over. Crosby lived to ninety-four and wrote about heaven often, sometimes saying that the first face she would ever see would be the face of Jesus. Near the Cross does not separate the cross and heaven. The way to the rest beyond the river runs through the cross.
A short prayer
Jesus, keep me near the cross. Let me keep coming to the precious fountain that flows from Calvary, free to all and healing every wound. Thank You that near the cross love and mercy found me when I was trembling and afraid. Bright and Morning Star, shine on me. Bring the scenes of the cross before me every day, and help me take up my cross and follow You. Let the cross be my glory always, and keep me hoping and trusting until I reach the rest You have prepared for Your people. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross?
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915) wrote the words in 1869 for a tune by William Howard Doane, who often sent her melodies to set. Crosby, blind from infancy, also wrote Blessed Assurance, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour and To God Be the Glory. The hymn first appeared in Bright Jewels for the Sunday School (1869).
Is Near the Cross the same hymn as Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross?
Yes. The hymn is titled Near the Cross in many hymnals, and the first line is Jesus, keep me near the cross. Some modern gospel and choir arrangements, and songs that quote it in a new chorus, are separate copyrighted works; the 1869 words and Doane's tune are public domain.
What does rest beyond the river mean?
It is a picture of heaven. In 19th-century gospel songs the river stands for death, often recalling Israel crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. The refrain asks that the cross be the believer's glory until the soul reaches the rest of God on the other side (Hebrews 4:9; Revelation 22:1).
What Bible verses is Near the Cross based on?
The fountain comes from Zechariah 13:1 and John 19:34, the refrain from Galatians 6:14, the Bright and Morning Star from Revelation 22:16, walking from day to day from Luke 9:23, and the rest beyond the river from Hebrews 4:9 and Revelation 22:1.
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: Blessed Assurance · Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior · The Old Rugged Cross · Beneath the Cross of Jesus · Lent Hymns · The Cross · The Blood of Jesus · Walking with God
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