Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus is a hymn by George Duffield Jr., a Presbyterian pastor, written in 1858 after the death of his friend Dudley Tyng, a young preacher in Philadelphia. Tyng's last message to the ministers of the city was, as Duffield told it, Tell them to stand up for Jesus. The hymn calls Christians soldiers of the cross and borrows the language of Ephesians 6: stand in His strength alone, put on the gospel armor, watch unto prayer. It ends with Revelation's promise of a crown of life to him that overcometh.
In the spring of 1858 a wave of prayer meetings swept American cities, and in Philadelphia thousands gathered at noon to hear the Episcopal minister Dudley Atkins Tyng. A few weeks later, at his farm, Tyng's arm was caught in a mule-powered corn sheller and torn badly. He died within days. Before he died, according to his friends, he sent a message to the ministers of the revival: Tell them to stand up for Jesus. The next Sunday his friend George Duffield preached on Ephesians 6:14 and read a poem he had written from those words. A Sunday school superintendent printed it as a leaflet, and it spread across the country. Below are the four verses printed in 1894, then 12 KJV passages on standing firm.
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus: the words
Verse 1
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord indeed.
Verse 2
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet-call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict,
In this His glorious day.
Ye that are men, now serve Him,
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.
Verse 3
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor,
And watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls or danger,
Be never wanting there.
Verse 4
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day, the noise of battle,
The next, the victor's song.
To him that overcometh,
A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory
Shall reign eternally.
Words: George Duffield Jr. (1818-1888), written in Philadelphia in 1858 and first printed as a leaflet for a Sunday school; usual tune Webb by George J. Webb (1837). Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (New York and Chicago, 1894), hymn 615, checked against Hymns of Consolation (Internet Archive scans). Duffield wrote six verses; like most hymnals, the 1894 book prints four. Public domain.
Ye soldiers of the cross: enlisted under Christ
1. 2 Timothy 2:3
"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
Duffield addresses the church as Ye soldiers of the cross. Paul used the same picture in his last letter to Timothy: Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. A soldier expects hardship. He does not sign up for comfort, and he does not get tangled in civilian affairs, Paul adds, so that he may please the one who enlisted him. The Christian life is not only rest beside still waters. It also involves endurance, discipline and loyalty to a commander. Dudley Tyng was a young man when he died, but he had stood firm in what he believed, and his friends saw him as a good soldier.
2. Ephesians 6:13
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Duffield preached on Ephesians 6 the Sunday after Tyng's death. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Notice how often Paul says stand in this chapter: stand against the wiles of the devil, withstand, having done all, to stand, Stand therefore. The Christian's first task in a spiritual battle is not to charge forward but to hold the ground Christ has already won. The hymn's title is simply this verse turned into a rallying cry. See our Bible verses about spiritual warfare.
3. Psalms 20:5
"We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions."
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss. David's psalm says, We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. In ancient warfare the banner showed whose army you belonged to and where to rally. To lift the banner was to declare your allegiance in public. Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king before battle, and the people's banners bear God's name, not their own. Christians lift Christ's banner by owning His name openly, at work, at home and in hard places.
4. 1 Corinthians 16:13
"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
The second verse says, Ye that are men, now serve Him. Paul ends his letter to Corinth with four quick commands: Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Quit you like men is old English for act like men, or be brave. The Corinthian church was divided and confused, and Paul calls them to courage and steadiness. The next verse adds, Let all your things be done with charity. Christian courage is not harshness. It is a firm, loving faithfulness that does not run away when following Christ becomes costly.
Stand in His strength alone: the arm of flesh will fail
5. Ephesians 6:10
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
The third verse begins, Stand in His strength alone. Paul starts his armor passage the same way: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. The strength comes from the Lord, not from us. Duffield's hymn can sound like a call to try harder, but its center is this verse. We stand only because He holds us up. The armor is God's armor, the might is His might, and the victory is His. Our part is to stand in it and not to stand somewhere else. See our Bible verses about strength.
6. 2 Chronicles 32:8
"With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah."
The arm of flesh will fail you. When the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem, King Hezekiah told his people: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. Assyria was the greatest power on earth. Judah was small and frightened. But Hezekiah saw that the enemy's strength was only human, and human strength runs out. The Bible records that the LORD sent an angel and the Assyrian army was destroyed (2 Chronicles 32:21). Duffield's line comes straight from this story.
7. Jeremiah 17:5
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."
Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. Duffield adds, Ye dare not trust your own. Jeremiah contrasts two people: one who trusts in man and is like a shrub in the desert, and one who trusts in the LORD and is like a tree planted by the waters (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Self-reliance looks strong but dries up in the heat. Reliance on God keeps bearing fruit in a year of drought. The hymn's courage is not self-confidence. It is confidence in God.
8. Ephesians 6:18
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"
Put on the gospel armor, and watching unto prayer. Paul closes the armor passage with this: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. The armor is not complete without prayer. It is fitting that the hymn grew out of the 1858 revival, which was above all a prayer movement: businessmen gathering at noon to pray in churches and theaters. Standing up for Jesus starts on our knees. See our Bible verses about prayer.
To him that overcometh: the victor's song
9. Revelation 2:10
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
The last verse promises, To him that overcometh, a crown of life shall be. Jesus spoke these words to the suffering church at Smyrna: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He did not promise them that the suffering would be avoided. He told them that some would go to prison. But He promised that faithfulness to the end would be rewarded with life itself. For Duffield's friends, grieving a young preacher who had died suddenly, this promise was not abstract. Tyng had been faithful unto death, and the crown was his.
10. Revelation 3:21
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Duffield's last lines say the overcomer with the King of glory shall reign eternally. This is one of the most astonishing promises in Scripture: Christ will share His throne with those who overcome. Notice how they overcome: even as I also overcame. Christ won first, at the cross and the empty tomb. His people overcome by following Him and trusting His victory, not by winning a battle of their own.
11. 2 Corinthians 2:14
"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place."
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. The picture is a Roman triumph, the parade through the city after a great victory. Paul says God always leads us in that parade in Christ. The first verse of the hymn says From victory unto victory His army shall He lead. That does not mean Christians never suffer setbacks; Paul suffered many. It means the outcome is certain, and the One leading the procession has already won.
12. Romans 8:37
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. In all these things means in tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword, the list Paul has just given. Christians are not more than conquerors by avoiding trouble but in the middle of it. And the power is through him that loved us. Duffield's fourth verse says the strife will not be long: This day, the noise of battle, the next, the victor's song. Nothing can separate God's people from His love, so the victor's song is sure. See our page on Romans 8:28.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, You have called me to stand up for You. Make me a good soldier of the cross, willing to endure hardness and to lift Your banner without shame. I will not trust my own strength, because the arm of flesh will fail. Make me strong in You and in the power of Your might. Clothe me in Your armor and keep me watching unto prayer. Help me to be faithful unto death, and bring me at last to the victor's song, to reign with You forever. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus?
George Duffield Jr. (1818-1888), a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia, wrote it in 1858. The tune most often used in America is Webb, by George J. Webb, first written in 1837 for a secular song. Duffield's hymn was printed as a leaflet for a Sunday school and soon spread across the country.
What is the story behind Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus?
It was inspired by Dudley Atkins Tyng, a young Philadelphia preacher in the 1858 revival. He was badly injured in a farm accident and died in April 1858. According to Duffield, his dying message to the ministers of the revival was Tell them to stand up for Jesus. Duffield preached on Ephesians 6:14 and read the poem the next Sunday.
What Bible verse is Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus based on?
Ephesians 6:10-18, the armor of God, which repeats the word stand and ends with watching unto prayer. The arm of flesh comes from 2 Chronicles 32:8, and the crown of life for him that overcometh comes from Revelation 2:10 and Revelation 3:21.
Is Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus in the public domain?
Yes. Duffield's words (1858) and Webb's tune (1837) are in the public domain in the United States, so the hymn may be printed and sung freely. Duffield wrote six verses; the four above are the ones printed in Gospel Hymns (1894) and most later hymnals.
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: Free Armor of God Printable · I Am Thine, O Lord · Crown Him with Many Crowns · Joshua 1:9 Meaning · All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name · Courage · Spiritual Warfare · Victory · Onward, Christian Soldiers (lyrics)
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