No Tongue Can Bid Me Thence Depart
- Joe Hawkins
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
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 Heav'n he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
The hymn begins by painting the courtroom of heaven, where justice is certain, yet mercy prevails because Christ Himself is our Advocate. The believer’s plea is not based on personal merit but on the unshakable ministry of the High Priest who “always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25). His name is Love, and His wounds are the eternal reminder of the price He paid. Our names are engraved on His hands and written on His heart (Isaiah 49:16), a symbol that we are remembered and secured forever. The enemy may accuse, our own hearts may condemn, but while Christ stands before the Father, no one can erase us from His presence (Romans 8:33–34).
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see him there,
Who made an end of 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,
To look on him and pardon me.
The second verse shifts from the heavenly courtroom to the battlefield of the soul. Satan, the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10), seeks to cripple us with guilt and shame. Yet the hymn points us upward—to Christ, who bore our sin and silenced condemnation. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). This is not because God ignored our sin, but because justice was satisfied in Christ. At the cross, wrath and mercy met: the penalty was paid, the sinner was pardoned, and the guilty were declared free. This is the essence of the gospel—Christ for us, Christ instead of us, Christ covering us in His righteousness.
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,
With Christ, my Savior and my God.
The final stanza lifts our gaze even higher, beyond the cross to the throne. The Lamb who was slain is alive forevermore (Revelation 5:6). He is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30), the eternal “I AM” (John 8:58), unchangeable in nature and promise. Because we are united with Him, death has no claim. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Purchased by His blood, secured by His life, we are bound to Him for eternity. The hymn closes not with uncertainty but with triumph: we belong to Christ, and nothing can sever that bond.
In the last days, when fear increases and deception spreads, Before the Throne of God Above reminds believers where their true security lies. Governments may fail, accusations may come, and even death may threaten, but our case has already been settled in heaven. Christ intercedes, justice is satisfied, and our lives are hidden with Him until the day He returns in glory.
This hymn is more than poetry—it is proclamation. It declares that the Lamb reigns, that the accuser’s voice is silenced, and that the believer’s destiny is sealed. For Watchers and Warriors awaiting Christ’s return, it is both a comfort and a battle cry: we stand forgiven, secured, and unshakably bound to our Savior and our God.
Before the Throne of God Above - Charitie Lees Smith
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