Scripture Verse

Introduction

Anecdote

It rare­ly falls to the lot of any hymn to be sung un­der such trying cir­cum­stanc­es as was this, dur­ing the [1900] out­break in Ch­ina, by a com­pa­ny of be­leagu­ered mis­sion­ar­ies who had ga­thered to­ge­ther one night in great fear lest they should have to suf­fer the fate of so ma­ny who were giv­ing up their lives ra­ther than de­ny their Lord.

The fol­low­ing ac­count of the sing­ing is fur­nished by Miss Hel­en Knox Strain, one of the mis­sion­ar­ies pre­sent that night.

The Wo­man’s Un­ion Mis­sion­ary So­ci­ety has a mag­ni­fi­cent work just out­side of the ci­ty of Shang­hai. No harm had come to us up to this time, but se­ri­ous threats and un­plea­sant ru­mors were rife; we dared not so much as put our heads out at night, though fort­y lit­tle soldier-men played at keep­ing us safe

Our mis­sion­ar­ies have two cen­ters at that place, and the they meet oft­en for pray­er and con­sul­ta­tion. At this par­ti­cu­lar time the ru­mors were so fright­ful, and the threats to burn our homes that ve­ry night so dis­tress­ing, that we had a me­mo­ra­ble meet­ing. Se­pa­rat­ed from home and friends, fac­ing death in a far-off land, and full of ten­der­est feel­ing, we lift­ed our hearts in song…

Out of the storm each soul, re­new­ing its strength, mount­ed up with wings as ea­gles and found peace in the sec­ret of His pre­sence.

Our Sav­iour breathed, in ve­ry deed, an ev­en­ing bless­ing up­on us, the frag­rance of which re­mains ev­en un­to this day.

The last verse of the hymn, Should swift death this night o’er­take us, was omit­ted. It seemed too pro­ba­ble it might. We want­ed on­ly to think of the safe-keep­ing, and such, thank God, it proved to be.

Sankey, pp. 155–59