Most of the Hymns of Fanny Crosby (1820-1915; see Biographies) are simple and earnest, many being subjective, and most of them are of the gospel-song type. The great hymnic authority John Julian says that her poems are weak and poor but have become popular because of the melodies associated with them. However, the strong words of this hymn are most appropriate to the majestic title and make an inspiring congregational hymn of praise. 

The unnamed tune was composed by Hart Pease Danks (1834-1903) of New Haven, Connecticut, later of Chicago. Although a carpenter, Danks showed a keen interest in music and wrote more than 1000 songs appealing to popular taste. He was a boy soprano, and later a singer and choir conductor in Chicago. He also composed the unnamed tune for SDAH 427, “No Night There.”

Significantly, the first appearance of this hymn was in Hymns and Tunes, 1886 where in bore the notice “Copyrighted 1886 by the J.E. White Pub. Co.” How White obtained this one song remains a mystery, for most of the prolific output of Fanny Crosby was controlled by Bigelow and Main in Chicago. The Dictionary of American Hymnology first-line index shows that Song Sheaf, compiled by F.E. Belden and published by Hope Publishing Company in 1886, the Gospel Carols, by George J. Meyer, Chicago, 1905. So for the most part, this hymn, which some feel is one of Crosby’s best, has been an almost exclusive possession of Seventh-day Adventists, appearing in the seven of the church’s hymnbooks.