This hymn is best suited to Lent or Holy Week. If it is too fast, it sounds like a dance, which is not appropriate to the theme of the text, but an excessively slow tempo is depressing, while the text gives hope. This tune should be sung at a moderate tempo. The stanza and the refrain are in two phrases each, clearly marked by the ending long notes. He wrote the tune in 1869 and it was first published with the text in Bright Jewels. Doane, who often collaborated with Crosby, is the composer. The tune for this hymn was actually written before the text, but it was named after the text, NEAR THE CROSS. The third stanza is a prayer that the Christian would always remember God's love as shown on the cross, and the fourth looks forward to heaven. The first stanza describes redemption through Jesus' blood, and the second, the need of humanity for salvation. Each stanza has a slightly different aspect of the main theme. The first line of each stanza contains the phrase “near the cross,” emphasizing the value of Christ's redeeming work there. The fourth stanza (“Near the cross I'll watch and wait”) is occasionally omitted. Crosby wrote four stanzas and a refrain, which most hymnals have kept.
The text and tune were published together in Bright Jewels for the Sunday School in 1869. In 1869, Fanny Crosby was shown a tune by William Doane, for which she wrote this text.
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