CHRISTIAN CHURCH >> Ordination
SDAH 378
“Go, preach My gospel,” saith the Lord;
“Bid the whole world My grace receive;
He shall be saved who trusts My word,
And they condemned who disbelieve.
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For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Go, Preach My Gospel
Isaac Watts crafted this paraphrase of Christ’s Great Commission using various Ascension scriptures, originally titled The Apostles’ Commission. It powerfully expresses Christ’s call to spread the gospel, affirming that His Word is backed by divine authority and miracles. Set to the energetic tune TRURO—with its ascending scale and lively rhythm—the hymn stirs both the heart and feet for mission, reminding us that Christ’s command is still urgent today.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Isaac Watts (1674-1748; see Biographies) took various scriptures describing the events of Ascension Day and knitted them together in a flowing paraphrase. It appears, not in the 1707 edition of his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, but in book 1 of the 1709 one, in five stanzas. It is titled “The Apostles’ Commission; or, the Gospel Attested by Miracles.”
TRURO, named after the Cornish city in the tin and china clay-mining area, is found in Thomas Williams’ Psalmodia Evangelica of 1789 (see SDAH 182). The tune has a rousing entry, with its almost complete ascending scale passage of one octave, suitably broken by notes of five different time values.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
“Go, preach My gospel,” saith the Lord;
“Bid the whole world My grace receive;
He shall be saved who trusts My word,
And they condemned who disbelieve.
2
“I’ll make your great commission known,
And ye shall prove My gospel true
By all the works that I have done,
By all the wonders ye shall do.
3
“Teach all the nations My commands;
I’m with you till the world shall end;
All power is vested in My hands;
I can destroy, and I defend.”
4
He spake, and light shone round His head;
On a bright cloud to heaven He rode;
They to the farthest nations spread
The grace of their ascended Lord.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Mark 16:15, 16 (b) Mark 16:17 (c) Matt 28:18-20 (d) Mark 16:19, 20
Author
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Year Published
1709
Hymn Tune
TRURO
Metrical Number
L.M.
Tune Source
T. Williams’ Psalmodia Evangelica, 1789
