Around 1908, Rowley became president of the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where he served until retirement in 1945. Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, named the Rowley School of Humanities after him.
Rowley gives this account of when this hymn was written: “I was minister of the First Baptist Church of North Adams, Massachusetts, in 1886, as nearly as I can remember. The church and the community were experiencing a period of unusual interest in religious matters, and I was assisted by a fine young singer and assistant minister, Peter Bilhorn.
“One night after the close of the service Peter said, ‘Why don’t you write a hymn for me to set to music?’ During the night these most unpretentious and wholly unworthy verses came to me.
“Some years ago, as I was going down a London street one night about eleven o’clock, I discovered ahead of me a group of Salvation Army people holding a service, and as I came nearer to them it occurred to me that the hymn they were singing was familiar. Then it dawned upon me that it was this one.”
On a trip to Brooklyn, New York, music publisher George Coles Stebbins asked Peter Bilhorn if he had any songs to share and he showed him what we know as “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.”
Stebbins assisted in harmonizing the song and took him to music publisher Ira Sankey, who was impressed with the song. The two men presented it as a gift to Sankey. The song was published as “I Will Sing the Wonderous Story.” Ira Sankey first published the song in his 1887 edition of Sacred Songs and Solos.
Peter Bilhorn was born in 1861 in Illinois, shortly after his father was killed in the Civil War. He was converted to Christianity by D.L. Moody’s teachings. He reportedly wrote over 2,000 gospel songs and worked for a while with evangelist Billy Sunday, and performed for Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace.
Bilhorn also invented a folding pump organ used at revivals in the late 19th Century, and founded the Bilhorn Folding Organ Company in Chicago, Illinois. He died in Los Angeles on December 13, 1936.
Bilhorn wrote the music to “The Best Friend to Have is Jesus.” The refrain reads: “The best friend to have is Jesus, He will help you when you fall, He will hear you when you call; Oh, the best friend to have is Jesus.”
Biblehub.com, Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible: It seems best to understand it of those who are spiritually redeemed by Christ, this phrase being frequently used of such, who may be said to be so, since Christ is the author of their redemption; they are redeemed, not by themselves, nor by any creature, but by the Lord; who being their God, and near Kinsman, had a right to redeem them, and, being God, was able to do it, and who has effected it by His precious blood; so that He has a right unto them and a property in them, which this phrase also suggests; and for all which they have great reason to praise the Lord and His goodness, and sing the new song of redeeming love.
Studylight.org, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible: No Christian has the right to remain silent with regard to the salvation that has been conferred upon him through the gospel of Christ. God’s saints need to be vocal about their redemption. If it was required of ancient Israel that they should extol the wonders of God’s delivering them from Babylon, is it not equally binding upon the New Israel to proclaim the wonders of “salvation in Jesus Christ?”
Biblehub.com, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary: The parable of the lost sheep is very applicable to the great work of man's redemption. The lost sheep represents the sinner as departed from God, and exposed to certain ruin if not brought back to Him . . . Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. In the parable of the lost piece of silver, that which is lost, is one piece of small value compared with the rest. Yet the woman seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to Himself, and the Savior’s joy on their return to Him. How careful then should we be that our repentance is unto salvation!
Studylight.org, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible: We were like a flock without a shepherd. We had wandered far away from the true fold, and were following our own paths. We were without a protector, and were exposed to every kind of danger. This aptly and forcibly expresses the condition of the whole race before God recovers people by the plan of salvation. A flock thus wandering without a shepherd, conductor, or guide, is in a most pitiable condition; and so was man in his wanderings before he was sought out and brought back to the true fold by the Great Shepherd.
Biblehub.com, Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible: He is free from sin, not from the being, but from the servitude, guilt, and damning power of it: he is free from Satan, not from his temptations and insults, but from his dominion and captivity; he is ransomed from him, by the redemption of Christ, and is turned from his power in conversion; he has not that influence over him he before had; and he is so safe and secure from him, that he can never be destroyed by him,
Bibleref.com: The Spirit leads Christians—every Christian—in a specific direction away from their sinful choices. We are saved by God's grace alone through our faith alone. Then, the Spirit, also by God's grace, begins to set a new direction for our lives and to give us the power to go that way . . . Why does God do this? Paul answers here: We are God's children. All who become God's children through faith in Christ are led by God's Spirit. All who are led by God's Spirit are His children.
BIblehub.com, Matthew Poole’s Commentary: That eternal glory whereof believers at the last day shall be made partakers, which is called God’s Glory, because it is that which He hath promised to them, and will at last put them in possession of.
Studylight.org, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible: The sea represents . . . the tranquility and peacefulness of souls in the service of God, and how His eyes can penetrate to the very bottom. The purpose of the crystal sea might have been simply the creation of an emphatic distance between the beholder and the throne itself.
Preceptaustin.org: Those who achieve victory over the beast are seen standing on this sea of glass before the throne . . . This sea may also symbolize the “river of life” which flows from the temple during the Millennium and proceeds from the throne in the eternal
