This is a metrical version (see SDAH 16) of Psalm 121. There are eight verses in the psalm, and each of the hymn’s stanzas covers two verses. It has been favorite in Canada, and during World War II was very popular with the Canadian soldiers.

John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, ninth duke of Argyll, was born August 6, 1845, in Westminster, London. Educated at Eton, St. Andrew’s and Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1868 he became the liberal member of Parliament representing Argyll, at age 23. After marrying Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, he served three years as private secretary to his father, who was secretary of state for India. From 1878 to 1883 he was governor-general of Canada. Returning to England, he again went to Parliament, representing the Unionists in Manchester, 1895 to 1900. He died of double pneumonia while on vacation on the Isle of Wight, May 2, 1914. When he published his Book of Psalms (metrical versions of all the psalms) in 1877, he had the title Marquis of Lorne, having succeeded to the dukedom in 1900.

James Bingham (1945-   ; see SDAH 54) was a member of the SDAH Committee, representing the Canadian and Australian viewpoints, and served on the tuned subcommittee., He gives this insight on how the tune was written: “The SDAH Committee was having trouble finding the music to fit this text. ALBERTA, the most common tune for these words, did not provide what was wanted. Since a part of our working philosophy was that the hymnal should be attractive to young worshippers, and because there was a shortage if acceptable hymn tunes that had a youthful contemporary sound, I decided to try to take this magnificent text and wed it to a youthful sound. YOU YANGS is the result. The name is taken from a range of mountains that dominate the landscape of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, my hometown. The mountains look like a series of pyramids rising from a flat plain, and are extinct volcanoes. My father had a business by the ocean, and as a child I used to look across the water and watch the shipping against the backdrop of these volcanic hills. Thus the connection to the text.”

Bingham is also the composer of the SDAH 54, PHOS HILARON; SDAH 81, JANELLE; AND SDAH 148, INFINITE LOVE.