{{ list.is_on_list ? 'Remove from' : 'Add to' }} favorites
Before the throne of God above
- Exodus 3:14
- 1 Samuel 2:35
- Psalms 24:7-10
- Isaiah 45:21
- Isaiah 49:16
- Jeremiah 23:6
- Jeremiah 33:16
- Daniel 9:24
- Zechariah 3:1
- Zechariah 6:13
- Luke 4:1-2
- John 1:36
- John 8:58
- Acts 7:55-56
- Romans 3:24-26
- Romans 8:34
- 1 Corinthians 1:30
- Colossians 3:3
- Hebrews 10:21
- Hebrews 2:17-18
- Hebrews 4:14-15
- Hebrews 7:25
- 1 Peter 2:22-24
- 1 John 2:1
- 1 John 2:3
- 1 John 3:5
- 1 John 4:16
- 1 John 4:8
- Revelation 12:10-12
- 503
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
a great high priest, whose name is love,
who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is written on his hands,
my name is hidden in his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
no power can force me to depart,
no power can force me to depart.
2. When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
I look to heaven, and see him there
who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died
my sinful soul is counted free;
for God, the just, is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me,
to look on him and pardon me.
3. Behold him there! The risen Lamb,
my perfect, spotless righteousness,
the great unchangeable I AM,
the King of glory and of grace!
One with himself, I cannot die,
my soul is purchased by his blood;
my life is safe with Christ on high,
with Christ, my Saviour and my God,
with Christ, my Saviour and my God.
Charitie L Bancroft 1841-1923
The Son - His Priesthood and Intercession
Downloadable Items
Would you like access to our downloadable resources?
Unlock downloadable content for this hymn by subscribing today. Enjoy exclusive resources and expand your collection with our additional curated materials!
Subscribe nowIf you already have a subscription, log in here to regain access to your items.
Tunes
-
Before The Throne (extended) 
Metre: - LMD (Long Metre Double: 88 88 D)
Composer: - Cook, Vikki
-
Festus 
Metre: - LM (Long Metre: 88 88)
Composer: - Freylinghausen's Gesangbuch (1714)
The story behind the hymn
Another product on this theme by an author not far into her 20s (cf 501), this hymn first featured in C H Spurgeon’s Our Own Hymn Book in 1866, and in her own collection a year later. At that time she was Charitie Lees Smith, becoming Mrs Bancroft in 1869 and, after being widowed, Mrs De Chenez; both her married surnames occur in hymnals. Not surprisingly, PHRW is one of the (mainly evangelical) books where it still finds a place, usually as there in 4-line LM stzs. The more recent tune requires its arrangement as ‘LMD extended’, with line 8 repeated and giving added emphasis. Changes adopted here are ‘written/hidden’ for ‘graven/written’ (stz 1, as HTC); and ‘I look to heaven’ for ‘upward I look’ (stz 2). For the 2nd stz, cf John Newton’s lines in 600, stz 4.
The tune BEFORE THE THRONE was composed by Vikki Cook; it is dated 1993, appeared in Complete MP in 1999, copyright ‘People of Destiny International’ (PDI), 1997. It has been hailed as a good contemporary example of a fresh tune breathing new life into older words, which many will have sung to BRESLAU (15), FESTUS (721) or LLEDROD (778).
A look at the author
Bancroft, Charitie Lees
(aka DE CHENEZ), b Merrion, Co Dublin 1841, d Oakland, California, USA 1923. A clergyman’s daughter, née Smith, she grew up in her father’s rectory at Drumragh in Co Tyrone. While in her 20s and still single, she published some hymn texts in a leaflet in 1867, Within the Veil, her best-known hymn having gained a place in Spurgeon’s Our Own Hymn Book a year earlier. She married Arthur E Bancroft in 1869, and after his death became Mrs De Chenez; she is known in hymn-books by either or both of her married surnames. At some point she had emigrated to California with her brother Dr Thos Smith, and she died after being widowed for a second time. Her work (unsurprisingly?) seems to be appreciated only by evangelical editors and churches, and not all of these. No.503.