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Most of us have, at some point, made or seen the paper cut-outs of a long chain of people, connected by hands and feet. Or we’ve seen images of a globe with a circle of people from around the world surrounding it, hands grasped in equality and love. This image is evoked once more in the words of Isaac Watts’ hymn, "From All That Dwell Below the Skies". It is a beautiful thing to imagine a whole world of people, stretching across deserts, over mountains, deep in a forest, sitting on ships in the ocean, and lining the streets of a city.

In 1757, after living a life he described as “carnal and spiritual wickedness, irreligious and profane,” Joseph Hart turned to Christ (Psalter Hymnal Handbook). Two years later, he wrote this famous hymn. Now, having undergone numerous text and tune changes, it still remains a classic hymn of invitation to turn from our sinful ways by the grace of God into the waiting arms of our Savior. The added refrain hearkens back to the story of the prodigal son, who, like Hart, turned from a life of waywardness and folly back to his father’s waiting arms.

This hymn text was written by St. Theodulph of Orleans in 820 while he was imprisoned in Angers, France, for conspiring against the King, with whom he had fallen out of favor. The text acts as a retelling of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The medieval church actually re-enacted this story on Palm Sunday using a standard liturgy that featured this hymn. The priests and inhabitants of a city would process from the fields to the gate of the city, following a living representation of Jesus seated on a donkey.

Text:

This song is an African-American spiritual, probably from the nineteenth century. Like many spirituals, very little definite information is available about its origins. This text has two stanzas and a refrain. The stanzas are in the form of call and response, with identical second and fourth lines. While the text of the stanzas is not biblically accurate (the wise men – not the shepherds – followed the star), the message “Rise up, and follow” echoes other New Testament themes.