"Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" is an American Christian hymn. It was written by George Duffield Jr. in 1858 and is based on the dying words of Dudley Atkins Tyng. The traditional tune "Webb" was composed by

George James Webb George James Webb, born on June 24, 1803 near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, died on October 7, 1887 in Orange, New Jersey was an English-American composer. He was known for writing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus ...

, and the lesser-used tune "Geibel" was composed by Adam Geibel.

History

In 1858,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister George Duffield Jr. was an associate of Dudley Atkins Tyng who had recently been removed from his local

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ian community for speaking against slavery. Duffield assisted Tyng in supporting a revival of

evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In March 1858, Tyng gave a sermon at a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

meeting of over 5,000 men on Exodus 10:11, "Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord", converting over 1,000 men listening in the crowd. The following month, Tyng was maimed in a farming accident. Before he died a few days after the accident he told his father "Tell my brethren of the ministry, wherever you meet them, to stand up for Jesus." Duffield then wrote the hymn based on those words, and also incorporated the phrase "Ye that are men now serve Him" from Tyng's memorable sermon the month before he died. At a memorial service for Tyng, Duffield gave a sermon based on

Ephesians 6 Ephesians 6 is the sixth (and the last) chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Traditionally, it is believed to be written by Apostle Paul while he was in prison in Rome (around AD 62), but more recen ...

:14, "Stand firm, wearing the whole armour of God", and ended it by reciting the new hymn he had written as a tribute. The hymn was first brought into public knowledge through leaflets printed by the superintendent of the local Christian school containing the words of the hymn. One of these leaflets ended up being published in a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

newspaper, and "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" was published in The Church Psalmist in 1859. After first publication, the hymn was popular and was sung by both the

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and

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soldiers in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The hymn also became popular among British revivalists, and within

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s in England. As a result of the images of Christian militarism in the hymn, some people object to the hymn, and some people do not stand to sing it. The hymn was excluded from a more politically correct volume of The Presbyterian Hymnal published in June 1990, in order not to offend handicapped people.

Lyrics

:Stand up! Stand up for Jesus! :Ye soldiers of the Cross; :Lift high his royal banner, :It must not suffer loss. :From vict'ry unto vict'ry :His army he shall lead, :Till ev'ry foe is vanquished :And Christ is Lord indeed. :::Stand up! Stand up for Jesus! :::The trumpet call obey, :::Forth to the mighty conflict :::In this his glorious day. :::Ye that are men now serve him :::Against unnumbered foes: :::Let courage rise with danger, :::And strength to strength oppose. :Stand up! Stand up for Jesus! :Stand in his strength alone; :The arm of flesh will fail you :Ye dare not trust your own :Put on the Gospel armour, :Each piece put on with pray'r; :Where duty calls or danger :Be never wanting there! :::Stand up! Stand up for Jesus! :::The strife will not be long; :::This day the noise of battle, :::The next the victor's song. :::To him that overcometh :::A crown of life shall be; :::He with the King of Glory :::Shall reign eternally

Tune

Several melodies have been written for "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". The one used most often now was written by

, who had originally composed it in 1837 for "Tis Dawn, the Lark is Singing", a song in a secular musical show performed on a ship travelling across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url=http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/w/e/b/webb_gj.htm , title=George James Webb , website=CyberHymnal.org , publisher=Cyber Hymnal , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228073550/http://www.cyberhymnal.org:80/bio/w/e/b/webb_gj.htm , archive-date=February 28, 2018 American Christian hymns Songs of the American Civil War 1858 songs Songs about Jesus