In church terms, this is a hit song by David Haas and it is in extremely high rotation. It transgresses the singing in God’s voice “rule” but I can’t see that getting in the way of its use because it is much loved, important to the faith lives of many pew sitters and I strongly suspect a well written hymn. Having played it very frequently it is a sign of its quality that it does not fill me with dread to play it. It is has uses all over the liturgy but it makes a great funeral song.
I think this is original. I play it slower than I used to but I can’t do it quite this slowly. This is more the speed I’ve heard it played. There are any number of churches singing this song on Youtube if you want to go looking, a sure sign of popularity. Note that the first two verses are played before the first chorus. We often repeat the last line of the chorus right at the end and it fits the music in the AOV guitar version well.
The text is available here. It can be purchased for download at GIA.