Churches of Christ, by God's right hand. J. Conder. [Colonial Missions.] Appeared in his Congregational Hymn Book, 1836, No. 500, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines, and based upon the words,"Make straight in the desert a highway for our God." It was repeated in The Choir and The Oratory, 1837, p. 261, and entitled, “The Claims of our Colonies." Also in his Hymns of Praise, Prayer, &c, 1856, p. 120. In the New Congregational Hymn Book, No. 905, it is given without alteration. It is one of the very few hymns which recognizes the claims of our colonies upon the prayers and assistance, in matters spiritual, of the mother country, and as such, although not a hymn of any great merit, it is yet deserving of more extended use.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)