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The Old Rugged Cross
Verse 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.
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.
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
Verse 2
Oh, 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.
Has a wondrous attraction for me,
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Calvary.
Verse 3
To the 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.
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.
Bennard's early twentieth-century hymn became one of the most popular American gospel hymns with its memorable refrain.