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A Quick Bible Study Vol. 311: 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord'

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14.03.2026

Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book  "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.

Thanks for joining us today for a discussion of the glorious gospel hymn "Were You There"… better known by its extended title… "When They Crucified My Lord."

This study is a follow-up from last week's Vol. 310, when we discussed the hymn "What Wondrous Love Is This." After receiving positive feedback, I decided to offer another hymn relating to the Lenten Season, since Palm Sunday is only two weeks away.

According to Wikipedia, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" is an African American spiritual that was first published in 1899 but created during the era of slavery.

The hymn serves as a powerful reminder of what Jesus endured on the cross. Each verse emphasizes a different stage of His suffering and makes it personal through a slow tempo, repeating the phrase: "Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble."

Interestingly, in 1940, "Where You Were" became the first African American spiritual to be included in the hymnal of a mainstream Protestant denomination—the Episcopal Church. Now, it appears in nearly every Christian hymnal because of its simple truth—Jesus was tortured and died on the cross for us and our sin debt.

There are many renditions of this hymn, and I enjoyed listening to several, but selected these three........

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