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Lyrics and Information

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Words by Henry F. Lyte (1793-1847), 1833
Tune: ELLESDIE from Leavitt’s The Christian Lyre, attr. to Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), 1831
Key signature: A flat major (4 flats)
Time signature: 4/4
Meter: 8.7.8.7.D.
Public Domain
1. Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee; Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shalt be. Perish ev’ry fond ambition, All I’ve sought or hoped or known; Yet how rich is my condition! God and heav’n are still mine own.
2. Let the world despise and leave me, They have left my Savior, too; Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue. And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might, Foes may hate and friends disown me, Show Thy face and all is bright.
3. Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain! In Thy service pain is pleasure; With Thy favor, loss is gain. I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee: Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, All must work for good to me.
4. Man may trouble and distress me, ’Twill but drive me to Thy breast; Life with trials hard may press me; Heav’n will bring me sweeter rest. Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me, While Thy love is left to me; Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, Were that joy unmixed with Thee.
5. Take, my soul, thy full salvation; Rise o’er sin, and fear, and care; Joy to find in ev’ry station Something still to do or bear: Think what Spirit dwells within thee; What a Father’s smile is thine; What a Savior died to win thee, Child of heav’n, shouldst thou repine?
6. Haste then on from grace to glory, Armed by faith, and winged by prayer, Heav’n’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there. Soon shall close thy earthly mission, Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days; Hope soon change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.