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JESUS CHRIST SDA HYMNAL (1985)

SDAH 159: The Old Rugged Cross

JESUS CHRIST >> SUFFERINGS & DEATH

SDAH 159

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Text
Text

1
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

2
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.

3
To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he’ll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I’ll share.

Hymn Info
Hymn Info


Biblical Reference
(a) Gal 6:14 (b) Luke 23:33 (c) 1 Pet 3:18 (d) Heb 12:2

Author
George Bennard (1873-1958)

Text Source
American Negro Spiritual

Copyright
Copyright 1913 by George Bennard renewed 1941, The Rodeheaver Co. (A Div. of Word, Inc.). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.

Metrical Number
12.8.12.8.Ref.

Composer
George Bennard

Tune Source
1913

Hymn Score

Piano Accompaniment

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Notes

Get to know the hymns a little deeper with the SDA Hymnal Companion. Use our song leader’s notes to engage your congregation in singing with understanding. Even better, involve kids in learning this hymn with our homeschooling materials.

“It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4). Animal sacrifices that were practiced for centuries during Old Testament times for the remission of sinswere meant to foreshadow the coming of Christ who will take away the sins of the world by His substitutionary death on the cross. Christ is the dear Lamb of God who died on the cross of Calvary for our salvation. (Lesson 11, 2nd Quarter 2021 -Monday, Sin, Sacrifice, and Acceptance, 6/7/2021)

Both words and music of this very popular hymn were written in 1913 by George Bennard while a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Albion, Michigan. During a real soul struggle he was meditating on the theme of the cross and the importance it occupies in Christianity. After further study and reading of the Scriptures, he saw Christ and the cross inseparably joined in the well-known verse,“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”(John 3:16). The title words,“The Old Rugged Cross,”came into his mind, and then followed the melody. In vain he tried to fit words to the tune, trying on various occasions in different cities. Finally freedom of poetry came, and the words flowed freely from his mind. He sang the completed hymn at the parsonage of his friends, the Reverend and Mrs. L. O. Bostwick atPokagon, Michigan, and asked them diffidently, “Will it do?” Their answer was that they liked it so much that they would pay for its printing. The hymn was printed in Heart and Life Songs, 1915, edited by Bennard and two others.

            Bennard was born on February 4, 1873, at Youngstown, Ohio, and was converted as a child in a Salvation Army meeting at Lucas, Iowa. When he was 16 years old his father died, and he supported his mother and four sisters. He moved to Illinois, married, and his wife worked for the Salvation Army. He resigned to become an evangelist in the Methodist Church, and conducted campaigns in Canada and in the north and central states of America. He died at Reed City, Michigan, on October 10, 1958. To commemorate him and his popular hymn the Reed city officials erected a wooden cross 12 feet high just outside the city.

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