Scripture Verse

Introduction

Origin of the Song

While a teach­er in a Sun­day-school [in Will­iams­port, Penn­syl­van­ia] and pre­si­dent of a young peo­ple’s so­cie­ty, says the au­thor of this hymn, I one day met a girl, four­teen years old, poor­ly clad and the child of a drunk­ard. She ac­cept­ed my in­vi­ta­tion to at­tend the Sun­day-school, and joined the young peo­ple’s so­c­i­ety.

One ev­en­ing at a con­se­cra­tion-meet­ing, when mem­bers an­swered the roll-call by re­peat­ing Scrip­ture texts, she failed to re­spond. I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lamb’s Book of Life, if one of us should be ab­sent.

And I said, O God, when my own name is called up yon­der, may I be there to re­spond! I longed for some­thing suit­able to sing just then, but I could find noth­ing in the books. We closed the meet­ing, and on my way home I was still wish­ing that there might be a song that could be sung on such oc­ca­sions.

The thought came to me, Why don’t you make it? I dis­missed the idea, think­ing that I could ne­ver write such a hymn. When I reached my house my wife saw that I was deep­ly trou­bled, and ques­tioned me, but I made no re­ply.

Then the words of the first stan­za came to me in full. In fif­teen min­utes more I had com­posed the oth­er two vers­es. Go­ing to the pi­ano, I played the mus­ic just as it is found to­day in the hymn books, note for note, and I have ne­ver dared to change a sin­gle word or a note of the piece since.

Sankey, pp. 302–03