Lyrics
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea:
A great High Priest whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart;
I know that while in heaven He stands,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
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 hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God.
Public domain hymn text (1863). Words by Charitie Lees Bancroft.
The Story Behind the Hymn
Charitie Lees Bancroft, an Irish hymn writer who later emigrated to Canada and then the United States, wrote 'Before the Throne of God Above' in 1863, drawing its central image from Hebrews 4's description of Christ as a 'great high priest' who continually intercedes on believers' behalf.
Its striking image of a name 'graven on His hands' draws on Isaiah 49:16, where God declares, 'Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,' applying that ancient prophetic image of permanent, physical remembrance directly to Christ's ongoing intercession.
The hymn's second verse directly names spiritual accusation and despair, picturing 'Satan' actively working to remind the singer of 'the guilt within,' before answering that accusation not with denial of guilt but with the specific claim that Christ's death has already fully addressed it.
That structure, honest acknowledgment of real accusation followed by confident legal-sounding defense, 'a strong and perfect plea,' reflects the hymn's broader courtroom imagery, picturing salvation in terms of formal, settled legal standing rather than only emotional comfort. Its closing verse turns that legal standing into a declaration of union with Christ Himself, 'the risen Lamb,' whose righteousness and blood leave the singer's life 'hid with Christ on high.'
The hymn largely faded from common use for well over a century after its writing before experiencing a substantial revival in the early twenty-first century, when it was rediscovered and newly arranged by contemporary worship musicians, introducing Bancroft's nineteenth-century text to an entirely new generation of singers.
Bancroft wrote relatively few hymns compared to more prolific contemporaries, and this text remains by far her best-known and most enduring contribution, valued for its unusually direct engagement with spiritual doubt and accusation rather than only untroubled assurance.
The hymn's combination of honest acknowledgment of ongoing spiritual struggle with confident legal and priestly imagery has given it lasting appeal across a wide range of Christian traditions and musical settings, old and new alike.
