In 1870 Featherstone's text came to the attention of Adoniram J. Gordon (b. New Hampton, NH, 1836; d. Boston, MA, 1895), an evangelical preacher who was compiling a new Baptist hymnal. Because he was unhappy with the existing melody for this text, Gordon composed this tune; as he wrote, "in a moment of inspiration, a beautiful new air sang itself to me." Named for the composer, GORDON was first published in the 1876 edition of Caldwell and Gordon's The Service of Song for Baptist Churches.

Gordon, who was named after Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), the pioneering Baptist missionary to India and Burma, was educated at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and Newton Theological Seminary, Newton, Massachusetts. After being ordained in 1863, he served the Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, Boston. A close friend of Dwight L. Moody, he promoted evangelism and edited The Service of Song for Baptist Churches (1871) as well as The Vestry Hymn and Tune Book (1872). Both Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary are named after Gordon.

Sing this rounded bar form (AABA) tune in harmony throughout. It is a beautiful candidate for singing with little or no accompaniment. Do not rush the long phrases.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook