Christian History Home > Issue 90 > Go, Ye Heralds of Salvation
Go, Ye Heralds of Salvation
The music of missions
John W. Worst | posted 4/01/2006 12:00AM
At the close of Adoniram Judson's commissioning service, just before he and Ann set sail for India in 1812, those in attendance sang a hymn written especially for the occasion by the minister:
Go, ye heralds of salvation;
Go, and preach in heathen lands;
Publish loud to every nation,
What the Lord of life commands.
The congregation, "weeping unashamedly" as they sang, had resolved to support foreign missions in general and to stand behind this first group of missionaries in particular. Above all else, the hymn reflected a firm belief in the providence of God and the inevitable worldwide reign of Christ:
To his grace we now resign you,
To him only you belong,
You with every Christian Hindoo,
Join at last th' angelic throng.
This hymn and many others in the late 18th and early 19th centuries expressed the necessity and urgency of foreign mission. The words were commanding. The tunes were easy to sing and capable of stirring the soul. The lyrics reflected a Calvinist theology of the sovereignty ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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