Jesus, I my cross have taken

261 8. 7. 8. 7. D.

1 Jesus, I my cross have taken,
   All to leave, and follow Thee;
   Destitute, despised, forsaken,
   Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
   Perish every fond ambition,
   All I've sought or hoped, or known;
   Yet how rich is my condition:
   God and heaven are still my 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 man, untrue.
   And, while Thou shalt smile upon me,
   God of wisdom, love, and might,
   Foes may hate, and friends may shun me;
   Show Thy face, and all is bright.

3 Man may trouble and distress me,
   'Twill but drive me to Thy breast;
   Life with trials hard may press me;
   Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
   O 'tis not in grief to harm me
   While Thy love is left to me;
   O 'twere not in joy to charm me,
   Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

4 Haste thee on from grace to glory,
   Armed by faith and winged by prayer;
   Heaven'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 shall change to glad fruition,
   Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
                         Henry F. Lyte
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition