"A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Revelation 22:1-2
Words: Robert Lowry, 1864:
One afternoon in July, 1864, when I was pastor at Hanson Place Baptist Church, Brooklyn, the weather was oppressively hot, and I was lying on a lounge in a state of physical exhaustion…My imagination began to take itself wings. Visions of the future passed before me with startling vividness. The imagery of the apocalypse took the form of a tableau. Brightest of all were the throne, the heavenly river, and the gathering of the saints…I began to wonder why the hymn writers had said so much about the "river of death" and so little about the "pure water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb." As I mused, the words began to construct themselves. They came first as a question of Christian inquiry, "Shall we gather?" Then they broke in chorus, "Yes, we'll gather." On this question and answer the hymn developed itself. The music came with the hymn.
Music: "Hanson Place," Robert Lowry, 1864
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Part of this hymn was sung in the 1985 Academy Award winning movie, "Trip to Bountiful." It was also sung at the funeral of American Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.