Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus

In 1858, Presbyterian minister George Duffield Jr. was an associate of Dudley Atkins Tyng who had recently been removed from his local Episcopalian community for speaking against slavery. Duffield assisted Tyng in supporting a revival of evangelicalism in Pennsylvania.{{cite web|last=Christiansen|first=Rupert|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3668134/The-story-behind-the-hymn.html |title=The story behind the hymn |work=The Telegraph |date=2007-09-25 |access-date=January 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108113337/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3668134/The-story-behind-the-hymn.html|archive-date=January 8, 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Francis|first1=Russell E.|title=The Religious Revival of 1858 in Philadelphia|journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography|date=January 1946|volume=70|issue=1|pages=52–77|publisher=The Historical Society of Pennsylvania|url=https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/issue/view/1951|access-date=10 January 2015}}{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=John D.|title=How Firm a Foundation|date=1999|publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group|isbn=9781614583004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrCQgrZiH-gC}} In March 1858, Tyng gave a sermon at a YMCA 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.{{cite book|last1=Bence|first1=Evelyn|title=Spiritual Moments with the Great Hymns: Devotional Readings That Strengthen the Heart|date=1997|publisher=Zondervan|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=9780310208402|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRrnYhvc3oUC}} 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 6:14, "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 newspaper,{{cite book | first =R. Mark | last =Gaffney | title =Where the Birds Make Their Nests: A Study of the Birds of the Bible | publisher = Xlibris Corporation| year = 2010| isbn = 978-1453531877 | chapter = Crane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DkbktNUnamAC}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}} and "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" was published in The Church Psalmist in 1859.{{cite book|last1=Studwell|first1=William Emmett|title=The National and Religious Song Reader: Patriotic, Traditional, and Sacred Songs from Around the World|date=1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780789000996|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMQcncuUp8kC}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hymnary.org/text/stand_up_stand_up_for_jesus_duffield |title=Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus |website=Hymnary.org |publisher=Hymnary |access-date=January 8, 2015}}

After first publication, the hymn was popular and was sung by both the Union and Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War. The hymn also became popular among British revivalists,{{cite book|last1=Scott|first1=Jamie S.|title=And the Birds Began to Sing: Religion and Literature in Post-colonial Cultures|date=1996|publisher=Rodopi|location=Amsterdam|isbn=9789051839845|page=xix|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EH-fSSN5by8C}} and within public schools 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.{{cite news|title=Methodist Church Faces Decisions on Changes : Committee Finishes Revision of Songbook After 3 Years of Debate, Research, Prayer|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-17-me-3632-story.html|access-date=January 11, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|agency=AP|date=October 17, 1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305221725/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-10-17/local/me-3632_1_hymn|archive-date=March 5, 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite book | first =Elizabeth | last =Andrew | title =On the Threshold: Home, Hardwood, and Holiness | publisher = Basic Books| year = 2009| isbn = 978-0786739127 | page = 148| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cm8rkYEbbwEC}}{{cite book|last1=Wenham|first1=Gordon J.|title=Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically|date=2012|publisher=Baker Books|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=9781441236388|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfQT52cSsxcC}} 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.{{cite news|last1=McClain|first1=Kathleen|title=New Presbyterian hymnal curbs sexism and shuns militarism|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19890801&id=7YUcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2738,158403|access-date=January 11, 2015|work=The Pittsburgh Press|date=August 1, 1989}}

: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

Several melodies have been written for "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". The one used most often now was written by George James Webb, 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.{{cite book|last1=Osbeck|first1=Kenneth W.|title=101 Hymn Stories|date=1982|publisher=Kregel Publications|isbn=9780825493270|page=[https://archive.org/details/101hymnstories0000osbe_e7v5/page/86 86]|url=https://archive.org/details/101hymnstories0000osbe_e7v5|url-access=registration}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.historichymns.com/Devotionals/BensonDevotion2.aspx |title=Stand up, Stand up for Jesus |website=HistoricHymns.com |publisher=Historic Hymns |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108113015/http://www.historichymns.com/Devotionals/BensonDevotion2.aspx |archive-date=January 8, 2015}}
• {{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}}

Category:American Christian hymns

Category:Songs of the American Civil War

Category:1858 songs

Category:Songs about Jesus