Scripture References:
st. 1 = 1 John 1:5-7
st. 5 = Matt. 7:13-14
The author of this text, Ernest Y. L. Yang (b. Wuxi,Jiangsu, China, 1899; d. China, 1984), served on the committee that prepared the interdenominational Chinese hymnbook Hymns of Universal Praise (1936). He wrote over two hundred hymns, including melodies, arrangements, translations, and original texts. Regarded as an outstanding musicologist in China, he is known especially for his important two-volume history of ancient music in China, Zhongkuo Gudai Yinyue Shigao (1944). A graduate of St. John's University in Shanghai and Guanghua University, Yang taught at Yanjing University, the National Conservatory of Music, and Jinling Women's University.
Yang's hymn was translated into English by Frank W. Price (b. Sinchang, Che, China, 1895; d. Lexington, VA, 1974). A missionary to China for thirty years (1919-1949), Price was imprisoned by the Communist Chinese government for three years. After return¬ing to the United States in 1952, he became director of the Missionary Research Library at Union Theological Seminary, New York City. This text is one of a number of Chinese hymns from Hymns of Universal Praise? that Price translated and published in Chinese Hymns by Chinese Writers (1953). The text was also included in the East Asian Christian Conference songbook, EEAC Hymnal (1963), and the Asian-American United Methodist anthology, Hymns from the Four Winds (1983).
This pilgrimage text presents the petition "Savior God, be our guide" in the refrain. Sprinkled with delightful metaphors, expressive words, and biblical phrases, the text asks for divine illumination and guidance amid the pitfalls of life, for wholehearted devotion to the "narrow gate … that leads to life" (Matt. 7:13-14). The first time it was sung from the Psalter Hymnal was at the Ann Arbor Campus Chapel the Sunday after the confrontation in Tienamin Square on June 4, 1989.
Liturgical Use:
The initial stanzas, as a sung prayer for illumination before preaching; the entire hymn, after the sermon as a prayer for God's guidance on our journey through life; a fine anthem for a children's choir with accompaniment of plucked strings and flutes.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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