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In 1893, James Black was doing the roll call for his Sunday school. Young Bessie, daughter of a drunkard, did not show up, and he was disappointed at her failure to appear. Black made a comment to the effect, “Well, I trust when the roll is called up yonder, she’ll be there.” He tried to respond with an appropriate song, but could not find one in his songbook: “This lack of a fitting song caused me both sorrow and disappointment. An inner voice seemed to say, “Why don’t you write one?” I put away the thought. As I opened the gate on my way home, the dame thought came again so strongly that tears filled my eyes. I entered the house and sat down at the piano. The words came to me effortlessly. The tune came the same way I dared not change a single note of word.”
Sources
Osbeck, K.W. 101 More Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications: 1985) Pages 309-311
Osbeck, K.W. Amazing Grace (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990) Page 99
