Before The Throne Of God Above

A courtroom scene anchors Shane & Shane's "Before the Throne of God Above": the singer stands before God with "a strong, a perfect plea," and the advocate is "a great High Priest, whose name is Love." Assurance grows verse by verse. "My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart" pictures a Savior who never lets go, and "no tongue can bid me thence depart" answers every accuser in advance.

The second half faces guilt directly. When Satan "tells me of the guilt within," the singer looks "upward" to the one "who made an end of all my sin," because "a sinless Savior died" and "God, the Just, is satisfied." Pardon rests on a finished sacrifice rather than on the singer's record, which is the logic of Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:34, where Christ intercedes for his people. Isaiah 49:16 stands behind the engraved-hands image.

A shout of "Hallelujah! Praise the One, risen Son of God" breaks in before the hymn closes on "the risen Lamb" and a life "hid with Christ on high," echoing Colossians 3:3. The last repeated line, "With Christ, my Savior and my God," leaves the listener resting in settled security.