A Hymn for Times of Financial Loss

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in recent days is a reminder that money — no matter how hard-earned it is — can be lost in a moment. 

Since it's easy to start trusting in the security we've built with our own hands, the prospect of losing everything at once is unsettling at the very least.

Yet hymn writer Henry Francis Lyte gives us an example to follow in his hymn, "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken."

To those who have financial means and are well loved by friends and family, this hymn can seem depressing at first. And yet it is a comforting reminder to know that no matter what happens —even the worst case scenario— God and Heaven are still our own.

The Hymn Story. Henry Lyte lost his mother and brother when he was young and his father was so distant, he signed his letters to Henry as "Uncle" rather than "Father." ” 

His school headmaster noticed Henry’s academic abilities, paid his tuition and unofficially adopted him.

Lyte entered the ministry and settled in an English fishing village where he supplied every fishing vessel with a Bible and a songbook. “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken, “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven” and “Abide with Me” are some of Henry’s most well-known hymns.

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

by Henry Francis Lyte

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be:
Perish ev'ry fond ambition,
All I've sought, and hoped, and known;
Yet how rich is my condition,
God and heav'n are still mine own!

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 disown me;
Show Thy face and all is bright.

Man may trouble and distress me,
'Twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me;
Heav'n 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.

Hasten on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith and winged by prayer;
Heav'n's eternal day's before me,
God's own hand shall guide me there.
Soon shall close my earthly mission,
Swift shall pass my pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.