Music & HymnsO Jesus, Thou Art Standing

"I stand at the door and knock." Revelation 3:20

Words: William Walsham How, 1867.

Music: "St. Edith (St. Hilda)," Justin Heinrich Knecht, 1799, and Edward Husband, 1871

How wrote of this hymn:

I composed the hymn early in 1867, after I had been reading a very beautiful poem, entitled, "Brothers and a Sermon." The pathos of the verses impressed me very forcibly at the time. I read them over and over again, and finally, closing the book, I scribbled on an old scrap of paper my first idea of the verses, beginning, "O Jesus, Thou art standing." I altered them a good deal subsequently, but I am fortunate in being able to say that after the hymn left my hands it was never revised or altered in any way.

O Jesus, Thou art standing, outside the fast closed door,
In lowly patience waiting to pass the threshold o'er:
Shame on us, Christian brothers, His Name and sign who bear,
O shame, thrice shame upon us, to keep Him standing there!

O Jesus, Thou art knocking; and lo, that hand is scarred,
And thorns Thy brow encircle, and tears Thy face have marred:
O love that passeth knowledge, so patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal, so fast to bar the gate!

O Jesus, Thou art pleading in accents meek and low,
"I died for you, My children, and will you treat Me so?"
O Lord, with shame and sorrow we open now the door;
Dear Savior, enter, enter, and leave us nevermore.

Hymns supplied through the gracious generosity of the Cyber Hymnal Website