A young man’s testimony at a Moody meeting became a hymn: “Trust and Obey”
"Trust and Obey" was written in 1887 by John H. Sammis, with music by Daniel B. Towner. According to Towner's account, it was inspired by a…
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Gospel Music
New gospel songs, albums and music videos from artists across Nigeria, Ghana, the USA, the UK and beyond.
A farmhand picking cotton hummed a secular song and thought of heaven: “I’ll Fly Away”
Albert E. Brumley wrote "I'll Fly Away" in 1929 while picking cotton on his family's farm in Oklahoma, reportedly humming a secular ballad about a prisoner…
Written for 500 schoolchildren in 1900, it became the Black national anthem: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
James Weldon Johnson wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in 1900 for schoolchildren in Jacksonville, Florida, to perform at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. His…
A Latin carol from the 1740s and an English translation from 1841: the story of “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" began as the Latin hymn "Adeste Fideles", associated with John Francis Wade, an English Catholic who copied it in the 1740s.…
Isaac Watts looked at the cross and wrote a hymn that Charles Wesley reportedly envied: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
Isaac Watts published "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" in 1707 as a communion hymn based on Galatians 6:14. It is one of the most loved…
Written by an invalid who felt useless, sung at thousands of altar calls: “Just As I Am”
Charlotte Elliott, an English woman living with long-term illness, wrote "Just As I Am" in 1835. The hymn became the anthem of Billy Graham's crusades, sung…
The first song many children learn in Sunday school began as a poem in a novel: “Jesus Loves Me”
"Jesus Loves Me" first appeared as a poem in Say and Seal, an 1860 novel by Susan Warner, with the verse written by her sister Anna…
“A mighty fortress is our God”: the hymn Martin Luther built on Psalm 46
Martin Luther wrote "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" in the late 1520s, based on Psalm 46. It became the anthem of the Protestant Reformation. Frederick…
Written in one night for children marching to a picnic: the story of “Onward, Christian Soldiers”
Sabine Baring-Gould, a curate in Yorkshire, wrote "Onward, Christian Soldiers" in 1865 for children walking in a Whit Monday procession. Arthur Sullivan set it to the…
A pastor looked at the Berkshire mountains and wrote words for Beethoven: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”
Henry van Dyke wrote "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" in 1907 while preaching at Williams College in Massachusetts, inspired by the Berkshire mountains. He set it…