April 14, 2005
There is a Green Hill Far Away
Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, 1823-1895
Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. John 19:16.
Cecil Alexander wrote this hymn as she sat up one night with her seriously sick daughter. Many times, traveling to town to shop, she had passed a small grassy mound, just outside the old city wall of Derry, Ireland. It always made her think of Calvary, and it came to mind as she wrote this hymn. She published it in her Hymns for Little Children in 1848.
There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heav’n,
Saved by His precious blood.There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.Chorus:
O dearly, dearly, has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.