Lord’s Day, Vol. 7 No. 26

O That Will Be Glory

• Hymn Story

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Charles H. Gabriel, one of the most influential and prolific gospel songwriters of the early twentieth century, was born in a prairie shanty on August 18, 1856, at Wilton, Iowa, USA. The settlers in that area often fathered in the Gabriel home for singing sessions and fellowship, with Charles’s father generally serving as the leader. At an early age, Charles developed a love for music and soon gave evidence of a gift for composing. One day he told his mother that it was his supreme desire to write a song that would become famous. She wisely replied, “My boy, I would rather write a song that will help somebody than see you President of the United States.” Two years later Charles began teaching singing schools in the surrounding area without ever having the benefit of a single formal music lesson. He began writing and selling many of his songs during those early days but never received more than two and one-half dollars for any of his works.

In all Mr. Gabriel edited thirty-five different gospel songbooks, eight Sunday School songbooks, seven books for male choruses, six for ladies’ voices, ten children’s songbooks, nineteen collections of anthems, twenty-three choir cantatas, forty-one Christmas cantatas, ten children’s cantatas, and numerous books on musical instruction. From 1912 until his death in 1932 he was associated with the Homer Rodeheaver Publishing Company. His fame as a successful composer became widely known, especially with the use of his songs by Rodeheaver in the large Billy Sunday evangelistic campaigns. Like many of the early gospel song musicians, Gabriel usually wrote both the texts and music for his songs. Some of his hymn texts are shown with his pseudonym, Charlotte G. Homer.

“O That Will Be Glory” first appeared in the publication entitled Make His Praise Glorious, compiled and published in 1900 by a fellow gospel musician, E. O. Excell. The text was inspired by Mr. Charles H. Gabriel’s good friend, Ed Card, Superintendent of the Sunshine Rescue Mission of St. Louis, Missouri. Ed. Was a radiant believer who always seemed to be bubbling over the hoy of the Lord. During a sermon or prayer, he would often explode with the expression, “Glory!” His smiling face earned him the nickname “Old Glory Face.” It was his custom in his own praying with a reference to heaven, ending with the phrase “and that will be glory for me!” It is said that Card had the joy of singing this hymn just before his home-going with the pleasure of knowing that his Christian life had been its inspiration. This hymn has since been translated into different languages and dialects with an estimated publication of over 100 million copies.

O That Will be Glory

When all my labours and trials are o’er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Refrain:
Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.

When, by the gift of His infinite grace,
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Saviour, I know,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Other well-known favourites of Charles Gabriel include “Higher Ground, More Like the Master, Send the Light, My Saviour’s Love, He is So Precious to Me, O It is Wonderful, and He Lifted Me.

Below are the lyrics of “He Lifted Me” as a fitting picture of the Christian journey through life written and composed by Charles H. Gabriel in 1905.

He Lifted Me

In loving kindness Jesus came
My soul in mercy to reclaim,
And from the depths of sin and shame
Thru grace He lifted me.

From sinking sand He lifted me,
With tender hand He lifted me;
From shades of night to plains of light,
O praise His name, He lifted me!

He called me long before I heard,
Before my sinful heart was stirred,
But when I took Him at His word,
Forgiv’n He lifted me.

His brow was pierced with many a thorn,
His hands by cruel nails were torn,
When from my guilt and grief, forlorn,
In love He lifted me.

Now on a higher plane I dwell,
And with my soul I know ‘tis well;
Yet how or why, I cannot tell,
He should have lifted me.

May the Lord bless these precious hymns to the comfort of God’s people. Amen.

[Extracted and edited from 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck]

Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee