Scripture Verse

Whoever does not bear his on cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Roy J. Wer­ner, in Unit­ed Praise, ed­it­ed by Ed­mund S. Lo­renz & Ira B. Wil­son (New York: Lo­renz, 1908), num­ber 21 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Wer­ner (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

When the sha­dows ga­ther,
And the way is dark and drear,
And the cross too hea­vy
For my fee­ble strength to bear,
How my heart re­joic­es
When the Mas­ter speaks to me,
Fear not, bur­dened soul,
For I will com­fort thee.

Refrain

Bear the cross, for sure­ly I am with thee;
I will aid thee all the wea­ry way;
No temp­ta­tion e’er can ov­er­come thee,
Grace I give suf­fi­cient,
Only watch and pray.

When I think of all He suf­fered
There on Cal­va­ry,
From the curse of sin
To set my bur­dened spir­it free,
Then the clouds and dark­ness
From my soul are borne away,
And again, I hear my Sav­ior soft­ly say,

Refrain

Oh, ’tis sweet to trust Him
And to know that He is near;
Day by day He walks with me,
My faint­ing heart to cheer;
In the Fa­ther’s king­dom
There’s a place pre­pared for me,
Where with Him in glo­ry I shall ev­er be.

Refrain

illustration
Christ Carrying the Cross
Titian, ca. 1560