George Duffield, Jr., born in 1818, wrote this hymn as a result of a
tragic accident that resulted in the early death of one of the most stirring
preachers in the northeastern United States during the mid-nineteenth century.
The hymn was inspired by the tragic story of Dudley Tyng. Tyng
served as his father’s assistant at Philadelphia’s Church of the Epiphany and
was elected its pastor when his father retired in 1854. He was only 29 when he
succeeded his father at this large Episcopal church, and at first it seemed a
great fit.
The honeymoon ended when Tyng began vigorously preaching
against slavery. Loud complaints rose from the more conservative members,
resulting in Tyng’s resignation in 1856.
Tyng started a new church, Church of the Covenant, and along
with other ministers preached revival meetings at the local YMCA during lunch.
They soon began to attract thousands (this revival period is known as “The Work
of God in Philadelphia”).
In March of 1858, Tyng preached a rousing sermon to 5,000
young men at the YMCA and over 1,000 made a profession of faith. During his
sermon he said, “I must tell my Master’s errand, and I would rather that this
right arm were amputated at the trunk than that I should come short of my duty
to you in delivering God’s message.”
Only a few days later Tyng left the study of his country
home to visit his barn where a mule was harnessed to a machine that was
shelling corn. When he patted the mule, his sleeve was caught in the cogs of
the wheel and his arm was badly maimed. He passed away the following week from
the injury.
Before he died, he was asked if he had a message for the
ministers at the revival and he replied, “Tell them, ‘Let us all stand up for
Jesus.'” His friend and fellow preacher, Dr. George Duffield, was touched by
the words and wrote the hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Duffield
concluded his sermon the following Sunday by reading the lyrics as a tribute to
his friend.
Duffield’s Sunday School superintendent printed copies of
the poem. The lyrics soon found their way into a Baptist newspaper and the hymn
spread from there.
George Duffield was born on September 12, 1818, at Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. He attended Yale College where he graduated in 1837. He also
attended Union Theological Seminary, New York and graduated in 1840.
He served as a Pastor at Presbyterian Brooklyn. Duffield was
a priest at the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and later at Adrian,
Michigan.
He used his independent wealth, according to the Rev. Carlton Young, "to establish small congregations and to support evangelistic endeavors."
Bibleref.com: This verse addresses God as the Savior of those who seek safety from enemies. The “right-hand” is a reference to strength and power. Those who look for eternal safety and absolute goodness find it only in God . . . David was certain the God who provided a refuge for His people at the Red Sea could provide a refuge for him and for all who seek His protection.
Bibehub.com, The Treasury of David: The right hand of God is interposed between the saints and all harm; God is never at a loss for means; His own bare hand is enough. He works without tools as well as with them.
Studylight.org, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible: This is the marching order for every Christian of all ties and places. Paul himself gave this the highest priority, saying near the end of life that “I have kept the faith” . . . Strength is manifested by courageous and unwavering loyalty to the Word of God, by the resistance of temptation, by fleeing from it . . . by constant and liberal giving, by loving consideration of the rights, opinions and needs of others, and by the repudiation of the world’s value judgments . . . A constant and unfeigned love of the Lord, of His church as a whole, and of its individual members, is the mark of a strong Christian. Love is “the greatest” because it is always marked by obedience.
Enduringword.com, David Guzik: The detailed teaching of
spiritual warfare in this passage presents two essential components. First, you
must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Then, you
must put on the whole armor of God. The two are essential, and much teaching
on Christian combat neglects the first. If you take a weak man who can barely stand
and put the best armor on him, he will still be an ineffective soldier. He will
be easily beaten. So, equipping for Christian combat must begin with the
principle, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
This shows how to get this strength. This does not happen just by saying the words. It is not an incantation or a spell. You can’t just walk around saying, “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” over and over and it will happen. Those kinds of mental games can accomplish something, but it certainly wasn’t what Paul meant here . . . Might is inherent power or force. A muscular man’s big muscles display his might, even if he doesn’t use them. It is the reserve of strength . . . Power is the exercise of might. When the muscular man uses his might to bend an iron bar, he uses his power. It means that the reserve of strength is actually in operation.
Studylight.com, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible: "The
crown of life" mentioned by James here cannot be anything other than the
"crown of righteousness" mentioned by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:8, and which in no sense is awarded in the present existence, but
which will be bestowed "at that day" by the Lord Jesus Christ upon
all them that have loved His appearing.
Studylight.com, Contending for the Faith: The reward that
awaits the steadfast Christian is "the crown of life." "Of life" indicates the crown that
is life, a reference to eternal life . . . A crown is merely a symbol of
royalty, honor, or victory, all terms that aptly describe the future gift of
eternal life. Eternal life is pictured as a state in which one is never
separated from God or faithful loved ones again.
While hymns like this may have inspired revival and mission
efforts in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, our rhetoric today
needs to match the gospel of compassion and love that we seek to share in the
twenty-first century. Let us claim the call to the spiritual warfare in
Ephesians 6 and balance this with the God who came in Christ to love a lost and
suffering world.
