"Behold, I come quickly." Revelation 22:12
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Courtesy of RMJC Archives Collection |
Words & Music: Ira David Sankey, Sacred Songs and Solos, 1888
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During one of my trips to Great Britain, on "The City of Rome," a storm raged on the sea. The wind was howling through the rigging, and waves like mountains of foam were breaking over the bow of the vessel. A great fear had fallen upon the passengers. When the storm was at its worst we all thought that we might soon go to the bottom of the sea. The conviction came to me that the Lord would be with us in the trying hour, and, sitting down in the reading room, I composed this hymn. Before reaching England the tune had formed itself in my mind, and on arriving in London I wrote it out and had it published in "Sacred Songs and Solos." It has been much employed in England in connection with sermons on the second coming of Christ, and was frequently used by Mr. Moody.
My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns, by Ira D. Sankey (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Sunday School Times Company, 1907).