Christ My Song - 1221
The Cross! my hope, my boast, my theme
(Thomas Kelly/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The Cross! my hope, my boast, my theme.
"The cross ... whereby the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world." (Galatians 6,14)
1. The Cross! my hope, my boast, my theme,
there's music in the very word;
compared to it, how worthless seem
all earthly things, and how absurd
the thoughts and aims of men appear,
to those to whom the Cross is dear. PDF - Midi
2. The Cross! the Cross! mysterious tree,
on which the Saviour breathed his last;
thou wondrous Cross, I look to thee!
The bitterness of death is past;
the sense of guilt, so keen before,
so terrible, is felt no more.
3. The carcase of the lion, thus
of old, did "meat" and "sweetness" yield;
a riddle then, not so to us:
its import is no more concealed;
what then lay hid, the Cross explains,
the type is past, the truth remains.
4. The Cross! the Cross! how safe he is
who trusts in it, and it alone;
the promise and the blessing his:
'tis better than a royal throne;
a throne, what is it but a toy,
compared to what the saints enjoy?
5. The Cross! the Cross! 'tis shame, I know,
it may be death, I love it still!
The Cross be mine, come weal, come woe;
from it can come no real ill:
'tis fraught with blessings rich and free,
and he who has them, blessed is he.
Thomas Kelly, Hymns on various passages of Scripture, ca. 1853, Hymn 597.