Prolific Hymnist

Bruce A. Van Orden, "Prolific Hymnist" in We'll Sing and We'll Shout: The Life and Times of W. W. Phelps (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018), 493–506.

Despite W. W. Phelps’s signal contributions to the church hymnody, most present-day Latter-day Saints, if pressed, have difficulty identifying his most frequently sung hymns, such as “The Spirit of God,” “Now Let Us Rejoice,” “Redeemer of Israel,” “Praise to the Man,” and “O God, the Eternal Father.” And virtually none realize that in the church’s most recent hymnal, Hymns (1985), Phelps has the second-largest number attributed in some way to him—fifteen, more than any other composer or author except Evan Stephens.

For clarity, W. W. Phelps did not compose the music for any of his hymns, although he was musical by nature, was familiar with singing hymns and hymn tunes, and knew how to adapt his hymns to various commonly sung tunes. He invariably had a tune in mind when he composed the words of a hymn.

Phelps’s hymns are not sung only by worldwide congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) likewise has a strong tradition of singing many of Phelps’s hymns, particularly “Redeemer of Israel” and “The Spirit of God.”[1] Numerous Phelps hymns have been recorded onto acclaimed music albums.

Every semiannual general conference of the church features on average three of Phelps’s hymns, sung either by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or by the congregation. The three most commonly sung have been “The Spirit of God,” “Redeemer of Israel,” and “Now Let Us Rejoice.” Similarly, Latter-day Saints in more than thirty thousand separate congregations worldwide during three-hour block meetings on Sundays generally sing at least one Phelps hymn every three weeks.

Current Latter-day Saint Hymnal

Phelps’s fifteen identified compositions and adaptations in Hymns (1985)[2] are the following:

  1. No. 2: “The Spirit of God” (in original 1835–1836 Selection of Sacred Hymns, no. 90)[3]
  2. No. 3: “Now Let Us Rejoice” (in original hymnbook, no. 18)[4]
  3. No. 6: “Redeemer of Israel” (adapted from Joseph Swain; in original hymnbook, no. 6)[5]
  4. No. 25: “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord” (in original hymnbook, no. 26)[6]
  5. No. 27: “Praise to the Man” (composed in 1844)[7]
  6. No. 38: “Come, All Ye Saints of Zion” (adapted from Caleb Jarvis Taylor; in original hymnbook, no. 65, with the title “Come, All Ye Sons of Zion”)[8]
  7. No. 48: “Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion” (first published in A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Nauvoo, 1841, no. 302)[9]
  8. No. 49: “Adam-ondi-Ahman” (in original hymnbook, no. 23, with the title “This Earth Was Once a Garden Place”)[10]
  9. No. 57: “We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord” (adapted from Isaac Watts; in original hymnbook, no. 14)[11]
  10. No. 65: “Come, All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth” (in original hymnbook, no. 68)[12]
  11. No. 146: “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain” (in original hymnbook, no. 24)[13]
  12. No. 167: “Come, Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn” (in original hymnbook, no. 43)[14]
  13. No. 175: “O God, the Eternal Father” (in original hymnbook, no. 75)[15]
  14. No. 201: “Joy to the World” (adapted from Isaac Watts; in original hymnbook, no. 21, with the title “Joy to the World! The Lord Will Come!”)[16]
  15. No. 284: “If You Could Hie to Kolob” (composed in 1856 with the title “There Is No End”)[17]

To these fifteen could be added three additional hymns found in the current hymnbook that are not attributed to Phelps. The first is “Earth, with Her Ten Thousand Flow’rs,” otherwise entitled “God Is Love” (Hymns, no. 87).[18] This hymn personified Phelps’s feelings precisely about God’s beautiful earth. He included it in Sacred Hymns (no. 11) and even earlier published it in the September 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star. For over a century, Phelps was credited in Mormon hymnals as the author, but subsequent research indicated that Thomas R. Taylor was the actual author and that Phelps had adapted it.

The second is “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” (Hymns, no. 46).[19] Phelps majorly adapted this well-known piece by John Newton and published it in the June 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star and in Sacred Hymns, no. 4. It speaks of the restoration of Enoch’s Zion in the latter days, something that Newton did not at all do.

The third is “He Died! The Great Redeemer Died” (Hymns, no. 192).[20] Phelps made adaptations to Isaac Watts’s hymn and published it in the June 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star and in Sacred Hymns, no. 10. Note his changes in some stanzas:

Isaac Watts

W. W. Phelps

1. He dies! the Friend of Sinners dies!

Lo, Salem’s daughters weep around,

1. He died! the great Redeemer died!

And Israel’s daughters wept around;

2. Ye saints approach! the anguish view

Of Him who groans beneath your load;

He gives His precious life for you;

For you He sheds His precious blood.

2. Come saints and drop a tear or two,

For Him who groan’d beneath your load;

He shed a thousand drops for you,

A thousand drops of precious blood.

5. Break off your tears, ye saints, and tell

How high your great Deliverer reigns;

Sing how He spoiled the hosts of hell,

And led the tyrant Death in chains![21]

5. Wipe off your tears, ye saints, and tell

How high your great deliv’rer reigns;

Sing how he triumph’d over hell,

To bind the Dragon fast in chains!

Themes in Early Restoration Hymns

Phelps loved ancient truths, priesthood authority, and rites restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He revered revelations and scripture, ancient and modern. When tasked in 1832 with aiding Emma Smith in completing a hymnal for the infant church, Phelps began writing Restoration hymns or adapting them from existing ones. More than five dozen of them are included in the original 1835–1836 hymnbook. Phelps’s early hymns through 1836 in The Evening and the Morning Star and the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate are filled with specific themes:[22]

  • The Savior’s second coming is nigh.[23]
  • Enoch’s Zion will be restored in the latter days.[24]
  • Israel will be redeemed and gathered home.[25]
  • The Lord will protect the righteous in the desolation of the wicked.[26]
  • Strength through Christ.[27]
  • Humble prayer brings spiritual results.[28]
  • Praise to God for his power and glory.[29]
  • The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.[30]
  • The Lord has called and inspired a new prophet.[31]
  • The Book of Mormon and its remnant peoples.[32]
  • Adam-ondi-Ahman.[33]
  • The Sabbath day is holy.[34]
  • Sacrament of the holy supper[35]
  • Morning and evening hymns.[36]
  • The latter-day glory is coming forth.[37]
  • Satan will be conquered.[38]

Adapting Existing Texts and Tunes

Phelps was an ardent, eclectic borrower of texts and ideas from already-published hymnals. As a religious seeker long before he joined Mormonism, Phelps became acquainted with the prevailing genre of evangelical hymnody that had produced scores of pocket-size, text-only hymnbooks. When asked in 1832 to assist with a Latter-day Saint hymnal, he was by nature immersed emotionally and spiritually with the common hymns of the day. Already a poet and interested in doctrinal matters, Phelps jumped enthusiastically into hymn writing. Naturally, he was influenced by meter and content from existing hymnals. He was no different from other earnest hymnists of the day. The subject of plagiarism was not a concern in that era. No attribution to poet and musician existed in the early pocket hymnals.[39] “William W. Phelps was a natural adapter and reviser,” observed a historian. “When he heard or read a hymn that caught his attention, his creative powers immediately began to work upon that text to give it a flavor and relevance that would express the feelings and doctrines of the Saints.”[40]

A historian of hymnals observed,

Hymnals were kept in shirt and apron pockets and used daily. Their lyrics reminded believers of God’s promised blessings for enduring the hardships and persecution that were the reality of their everyday lives. Latter-day Saints, as well as other early American Christians, used hymnbooks not only for worship, but also for educational and social purposes. Along with the Bible, the hymnals were used to teach children to read and to recite poetry. A favorite evening pastime was to gather with family and friends to sing the hymns of Zion.[41]

Nearly all of Phelps’s original Restoration-oriented hymns showed similarity in style and language to common hymns of the day. In some of them, he lifted actual language from specific pieces, “corrected” the doctrines, and gave the words a distinctive millenarian flavor. He also added new stanzas to existing hymns authored by others.

“Redeemer of Israel” is Phelps’s most recognizable hymn from which he borrowed, corrected, altered, or adapted.[42] Following are Phelps’s original five verses compared with somewhat similar verses of English hymnist Joseph Swain (1761–1796):

“Redeemer of Israel” (1832) by W. W. Phelps[43]

O Thou, in Whose Presence My Soul Takes Delight” (1791) by Joseph Swain[44]

Redeemer of Israel, our only delight,

On whom for a blessing we call;

Our shadow by day, and our pillar by night,

Our king, our companion, and all.

O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call;
My comfort by day, and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.

We know he is coming to gather his sheep,

And plant them in Zion, in love,

For why in the valley of death should they weep,

Or alone in the wilderness rove?

Where dost thou at noon-tide resort with thy sheep,
To feed them in pastures of love?
For why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in the wilderness rove?

How long we have wandered as strangers in sin,

And cried in the desert for thee!

Our foes have rejoic’d when our sorrows they’ve seen

But Israel will shortly be free.

O why should I wander an alien from thee,
Or cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice, when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed.

As children of Zion good tidings for us:

The tokens already appear;

Fear not and be just, for the Kingdom is ours,

And the hour of Redemption is near.

Ye daughters of Zion, declare, have ye seen
The Star that on Israel shone?
Say, if in your tents my beloved has been,
And where with his flocks he is gone?

The secret of Heaven, the myst’ry below,

That many have sought for so long,

We know that we know, for the spirit of Christ,

Tells his servants they cannot be wrong.

The portals of heaven at his bidding obey,
And expand ere his banners appear;
Earth trembles beneath, till her mountains give way,
And hell shakes her fetters with fear.

An unrecognized hymn for many Latter-day Saints today is Isaac Watts’s “My God, How Endless Is Your Love.” Phelps adapted this hymn and published it in Sacred Hymns. The chart below shows how extensively Phelps altered the hymn for use by Latter-day Saints.

W. W. Phelps Version in Sacred Hymns, no. 40 (1835)

Isaac Watts Version (1709)[45]

My God, how endless is thy love,

Descending like the morning dew;

Thy glorious gifts come from above,

And all thy mercies too.

My God, how endless is your love!
Your gifts are every evening new,
and morning mercies from above
gently distil, like earthly dew.

Thou spread’st the curtain of the night;

Thine angels guard my sleeping hours;

The rising sun returns his light.

And thou awakens all my pow’rs.

You spread the curtains of the night,
great Guardian of my sleeping hours;
your sovereign Word restores the light,
and quickens all my drowsy powers.

I yield myself to thy command;

To thee devote my nights and days;

Such cheering blessings from thy hand,

Demand my grateful songs of praise.

I yield my powers to your command;
to you I consecrate my days:
perpetual blessings from your hand
demand perpetual songs of praise.

Demand my pray’r, demand my heart,

From hour to hour; from day to day:

Hosanna! God will do his part,

For he will hear, when I pray.

[Watts did not compose a fourth verse.]

Often Phelps altered others’ hymns only in minor ways.

Phelps Hymns in Original Hymnal

It has been generally understood that Phelps contributed many hymns to Emma Smith’s original A Collection of Sacred Hymns (1835–1836). However, the extent of his involvement has not been appreciated. Recent research indicates that Phelps lent his artistic hand to more than half of the original ninety published hymns.

He penned twenty-five hymns entirely by himself.[46] More surprisingly, he adapted in various ways another thirty-seven pieces, making sixty-two in all in which his words are part of the hymn texts!

Following are Phelps’s original hymns in A Collection of Sacred Hymns (those currently sung appear in italics):

  1. No. 7: “See All Creation Join”[47]
  2. No. 18: “Now Let Us Rejoice”[48]
  3. No. 20: “My Soul Is Full of Peace and Love”[49]
  4. No. 22: “The Great and Glorious Gospel Light”[50]
  5. No. 23: “The Earth Was Once a Garden Place” (“Adam-ondi-Ahman”)[51]
  6. No. 24: “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain[52]
  7. No. 26: “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord”[53]
  8. No. 28: “The Sun That Declines in the Far Western Sky”[54]
  9. No. 29: “The Towers of Zion Soon Shall Rise”[55]
  10. No. 30: “Let All the Saints Their Hearts Prepare”[56]
  11. No. 31: “Let Us Pray, Gladly Pray”[57]
  12. No. 32: “Awake, O Ye People! The Savior Is Coming”[58]
  13. No. 33: “What Wond’rous Things We Now Behold”[59]
  14. No. 35: “There’s a Feast of Fat Things”[60]
  15. No. 41: “Awake! For the Morning is Come”[61]
  16. No. 43: “Come Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn”[62]
  17. No. 50: “Farewell, Our Friends and Brethren”[63]
  18. No. 57: “O God th’ eternal Father”[64]
  19. No. 62: “When Earth Was Dress’d in Beauty”[65]
  20. No. 63: “O Stop and Tell Me, Red Man”[66]
  21. No. 68: “Come All Ye Saints, Who Dwell on Earth”[67]
  22. No. 69: “God Spake the Word, and Time Began”[68]
  23. No. 72: “Before This Earth from Chaos Sprung”[69]
  24. No. 76: “In Ancient Days Men Fear’d the Lord”[70]
  25. No. 90: “The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning”[71]

Only four other Latter-day Saints contributed to Sacred Hymns:

  • Parley P. Pratt: “Ere Long the Veil Will Rend in Twain,” no. 19; “How Often in Sweet Meditation,” no. 80
  • Eliza R. Snow: “Great Is the Lord,” no. 70; “The Glorious Day Is Rolling On” (adapted from earlier hymnals), no. 71
  • Philo Dibble: “The Happy Day Has Rolled On” (adapted from Isaac Watts), no. 21
  • Edward Partridge: “Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise” (adapted from earlier hymnals), no. 66

small hymn bookAn early copy of A Collection of Sacred Hymns. This copy is believed to have been owned by Sally Phelps.

Even acknowledging Phelps’s massive contributions to Sacred Hymns, nonetheless many other hymns were selected from Protestant sources, a goodly number of them likely by Emma Smith, for inclusion in this first hymnbook. Englishman Isaac Watts[72] (1674–1748) was the leading author of Protestant hymns, twenty in all in Sacred Hymns. Thirteen of these were adapted, twelve by Phelps and one by Philo Dibble, another Mormon. John Newton’s hand was in three hymns, two adapted by Phelps. Thomas Ken and Charles Wesley contributed two hymns apiece. No other poet wrote more than one hymn included in Sacred Hymns.

Below in alphabetical order are hymns that were altered, adapted, or corrected by W. W. Phelps in Sacred Hymns (those currently sung appear in italics).

  1. “Adieu, My Dear Brethren, Adieu,” no. 52 (adapted from Seth Mattison with significant changes)
  2. “An Angel Came Down,” no. 16 (adapted from Richard Allen)
  3. “Arise, My Soul, Arise,” no. 59 (adapted from Charles Wesley)
  4. “Awake My Soul and with the Sun,” no. 42 (adapted from Thomas Ken)
  5. “Come all ye sons of Zion,” no. 65 (adapted from Caleb Jarvis Taylor)
  6. “Come Ye Children of the Kingdom,” no. 53 (adapted from Robert T. Daniel, significant changes)
  7. “Earth with Her Ten Thousand Flowers,” no. 11 (adapted from Thomas R. Taylor)
  8. “From the Regions of Glory,” no. 9 (adapted from John Clark or Clarke)
  9. “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” no. 4 (adapted from John Newton, significant changes)
  10. “Glory to Thee, My God, This Night,” no. 45 (adapted from Thomas Ken, significant changes)
  11. “Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah,” no. 13 (adapted from William Williams)
  12. “He Died! The Great Redeemer Died,” no. 10 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  13. “In Jordan’s Tide the Prophet Stands,” no. 55 (adapted from Daniel Turner)
  14. “Jesus the Name That Charms Our Fears,” no. 67 (adapted from Charles Wesley)
  15. “Joy to the World,” no. 15 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  16. “Let Thy Kingdom Blessed Savior,” no. 81 (adapted from John A. Granade or Granada)
  17. “Lord in the Morning Thou Shalt Hear,” no. 37 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  18. “Lord Thou Wilt Hear Me, When I Pray,” no. 44 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  19. “Mortals Awake with Angels Join,” no. 77 (adapted from Samuel Medley, significant changes)
  20. “My God, How Endless Is Thy Love,” no. 40 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  21. O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” no. 86 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  22. “O Happy Souls Who Pray,” no. 8 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  23. “O Jesus! The Giver,” no. 75 (anonymous, adapted from earlier hymnals)
  24. “Once More, My Soul, the Rising Day,” no. 38 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  25. “Praise to God, Immortal Praise,” no. 12 (adapted from Anna Barbauld)
  26. “Redeemer of Israel,” no. 6 (adapted from Joseph Swain, significant changes)
  27. “See How the Morning Sun,” no. 39 (adapted from Elizabeth Scott, significant changes)
  28. “The Day Is Past and Gone,” no. 48 (adapted from John Leland, significant changes).
  29. “The Gallant Ship Is Underway,” no. 49 (adapted from Richard Huie)
  30. “The Time Is Nigh, the Happy Time,” no. 5 (adapted from a Mrs. Voke, significant changes)
  31. “There Is a Land the Lord Will Bless,” no. 34 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  32. “To Him That Made the World,” no. 17 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  33. “’Twas on That Dark and Solemn Night,” no. 58 (adapted from Isaac Watts, significant changes)
  34. “What Fair One Is This from the Wilderness Trav’ling,” no. 3 (adapted from Nancy Cram, significant changes)
  35. We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord,” no. 14 (adapted from Isaac Watts)
  36. “When Joseph His Brethren Beheld,” no. 25 (adapted from John Newton)
  37. “Yes, My Native Land, I Love Thee,” no. 51 (adapted from Samuel F. Smith)

Phelps Hymns in Subsequent Hymnals

A goodly number of Phelps’s hymns continued to appear in subsequent Mormon hymnals after 1835, some of the books published privately and many published by the church itself. Most of his songs gradually disappeared because they did not remain popular.

Three of Phelps’s currently sung hymns were composed following the original 1835–1836 Sacred Hymns. “Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion” was first published in A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo in 1841. This hymn is infrequently sung in the church today.

The first appearance of “Joseph Smith,” or “Praise to the Man,” in a hymnal was in 1845, just a year after Smith’s death.[73] The song quickly became popular among Latter-day Saints and was published in nearly every Latter-day Saint hymnal thereafter. Part of the original text of the second verse read: “Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, / Stain Illinois, while the earth lauds his fame.” In 1927, when the church came out with a unified hymnbook, Latter-day Saint Hymns, drawn from four earlier hymnals, the words had been officially changed from “Stain Illinois” to “Plead unto heav’n.”

“If You Could Hie to Kolob” first appeared as a hymn in Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, published by George Q. Cannon, editor of the Deseret News, in 1871. This song has become especially popular with new accompanying music, an English melody arranged by Ralph Vaughn Williams, in the 1985 LDS Church publication Hymns.

Phelps wrote numerous poems in Nauvoo, during the exodus to Deseret, and in Utah that he hoped would be regularly sung in Latter-day Saint settings. Some of them were sung originally by a choir or congregation, but for the most part they were not included in published hymnals. Two Nauvoo hymns that were published in church hymnals into the twentieth century were “Come to Me, Will Ye Come”[74] and “Ho, Ho, for the Temple’s Completed,”[75] but they were removed from official hymnals beginning in 1927. “Praise to the Man” is the one Nauvoo-era anthem that has lasted to the present time. “If You Could Hie to Kolob” is Phelps’s single Utah composition still in use by the Saints.

Since many of Phelps’s hymns continue to be sung so regularly and with gusto, his ideas remain powerful. Recommended would be that all worshippers carefully unfold the words of his hymns and realize what they mean doctrinally and practically to Latter-day Saint life now and in the future.

Notes

[1] Through my numerous contacts with Community of Christ historians and members over the years at archives and conferences of the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association, I became aware of their enthusiasm of the two mentioned Phelps hymns. I attended an enthusiastic “closing hymn fest” in the Kirtland Temple on September 25, 2016, and also in Nauvoo on September 24, 2017, and witnessed the historical background given these two hymns and the inflections on certain phrases when sung by Community of Christ members. For related RLDS articles, see Samuel A. Burgess, “Latter Day Saint Hymns,” Journal of History 18, no. 3 (July 1925): 257–75; and Samuel A. Burgess, “W. W. Phelps and Church Hymns,” Journal of History 18, no. 3 (July 1925): 276–89.

[2] A commentary on Hymns and each of its contents was prepared by Karen Lynn Davidson in her Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988).

[3] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 30–31.

[4] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 31–32. This source inaccurately states that this hymn was composed after the November 1833 expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County. It actually appeared months earlier in EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8].

[5] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 35–36.

[6] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 53–54.

[7] See “Joseph Smith” [“Praise to the Man”], T&S 5 (August 1, 1844): 607. Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 55–56.

[8] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 67–68.

[9] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 77–78.

[10] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 78–79.

[11] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 86–88.

[12] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 94–95.

[13] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 171–72.

[14] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 187–88.

[15] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 193–94.

[16] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 213–14.

[17] “There Is No End” was originally a poem dedicated to Brigham Young in Deseret News 6, no. 37 (November 19, 1856): 290. Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 286–87.

[18] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 187.

[19] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 75–76.

[20] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 206.

[21] Alexander’s Hymns, No. 3 (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1915), 177. Watts’s hymn is found in hosts of hymnbooks.

[22] Mary D. Poulter identified “subjects” in Sacred Hymns (1835–1836) in “Doctrines of Faith and Hope Found in Emma Smith’s 1835 Hymnbook,” BYU Studies 37, no. 2 (1997–1998): 32–56. I made my lists totally independently of Poulter and before studying her piece. Her analysis concerns all of Sacred Hymns, whereas mine concerns Phelps’s hymns only. Further, Poulter’s attributions for authorship or adaptation reflect her research in 1997–1998. Recent research by Wade Kotter and me introduces numerous changes to her findings.

[23] “What Fair One Is This, in the Wilderness Trav’ling” [adapted from Nancy Cram], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 3; “The Time Is Nigh, That Happy Time,” EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 5; “Redeemer of Israel” [adapted from Joseph Swain], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 6; “On Mountain Tops the Mount of God,” EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8]; “The Celestial Home” [“Beyond These Earthly Scenes in Sight”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “God Our Guide” [“Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah” [adapted from William Williams], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 13; “New Jerusalem” [“We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord”], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 14; “The Second Coming of the Savior” [“Joy to the World! The Lord Will Come!” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 7 (December 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 15; “Home” [“Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation”], EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 18; “My Soul Is Full of Peace and Love,” EMS 2, no. 13 (June 1833): 104, and Sacred Hymns, no. 20; “The Towers of Zion Soon Shall Rise,” EMS 2, no. 15 (December 1833): 120, and Sacred Hymns, no. 29; “Prepare for His Coming” [“Let All the Saints Their Hearts Prepare”], EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152, and Sacred Hymns, no. 30; “The Savior Is Coming” [“Awake, O Ye People! The Savior Is Coming”], EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152, and Sacred Hymns, no. 32; “Home” [“How Sweet Is the Mem’ry of All That We Love”], M&A 1 (September 1835): 192; “The Sun That Declines in the Far Western Sky,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 28.

[24] “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” [adapted from John Newton], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 4; “Redeemer of Israel” [adapted from Joseph Swain], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 6; “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “We Shall See Him Again” [“From the Regions of Glory” [adapted from John Clark], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 9; “New Jerusalem” [“We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord”], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 14; “Age after Age Has Roll’d Away,” EMS 1, no. 12 (May 1833): [8]; “The Towers of Zion Soon Shall Rise,” EMS 2, no. 15 (December 1833): 120, and Sacred Hymns, no. 29; “What a Joy!” [“Let Us Pray, Gladly Pray”], EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152, and Sacred Hymns, no. 31; “The Savior Is Coming” [“Awake, O Ye People! The Savior Is Coming”], EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152, and Sacred Hymns, no. 32; “Home” [“How Sweet Is the Mem’ry of All That We Love”], M&A 1 (September 1835): 192; “Ye Watchmen Lift Your Voices,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 194; “The Sun That Declines in the Far Western Sky,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 28; “Come All Ye Sons of Zion” [adapted from Caleb Jarvis Taylor], M&A 2 (November 1835): 224, and Sacred Hymns, no. 65; “The Glorious Day Is Rolling On,” M&A 2 (January 1836): 256, and Sacred Hymns, no. 71; “Arise Ye Saints of Latter Days,” M&A 2 (March 1836): 288.

[25] “Redeemer of Israel” [adapted from Joseph Swain], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 6; “On Mountain Tops the Mount of God,” EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8]; “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “God Our Guide” [“Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah” [adapted from William Williams], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 13; “Home” [“Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation”], EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 18; “The Towers of Zion Soon Shall Rise,” EMS 2, no. 15 (December 1833): 120, and Sacred Hymns, no. 29; “The Gathering” [“What Wond’rous Things We Now Behold”], EMS 2, no. 20 (May 1834): 160, Sacred Hymns, no. 33, and M&A 3 (October 1836): 400; “There Is a Land the Lord Will Bless” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 2, no. 24 (September 1834): 191, and Sacred Hymns, no. 34; “Ye Watchmen Lift Your Voices,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 194; “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 26; “Come All Ye Sons of Zion” [adapted from Caleb Jarvis Taylor], M&A 2 (November 1835): 224, and Sacred Hymns, no. 65; “How Good It Is to Sing,” M&A 2 (February 1836): 272.

[26] “On Mountain Tops the Mount of God,” EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8]; “We Shall See Him Again” [“From the Regions of Glory an Angel Descended” [adapted from John Clark], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 9; “God Our Guide” [“Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah” [adapted from William Williams], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 13; “Home” [“Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation”], EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 18; “There Is a Land the Lord Will Bless” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 2, no. 24 (September 1834): 191, and Sacred Hymns, no. 34; “Ye Watchmen Lift Your Voices,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 194; “How Good It Is to Sing,” M&A 2 (February 1836): 272; “Arise Ye Saints of Latter Days,” M&A 2 (March 1836): 288.

[27] “The Celestial Home” [“Beyond These Earthly Scenes in Sight”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “Happy Souls” [“O Happy Souls Who Pray” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 8; “We Shall See Him Again” [“From the Regions of Glory an Angel Descended” [adapted from John Clark], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 9; “God Our Guide” [“Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah” [adapted from William Williams], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 13; “Home” [“Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation”], EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 18; “For Baptism” [“Come, Ye Children of the Kingdom” [adapted from an 1812 Shaker hymnal], EMS 1, no. 11 (April 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 53; “What a Joy!” [“Let Us Pray, Gladly Pray”], EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152, and Sacred Hymns, no. 31; “Morning Hymn” [“Awake, for the Morning Is Come”], M&A 1 (July 1835): 159, and Sacred Hymns, no. 41; “How Good It Is to Sing,” M&A 2 (February 1836): 272.

[28] “The Prayer of a Wise Heathen” [“Great Jove, This One Petition Grant”], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8]; “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “Happy Souls” [“O Happy Souls Who Pray” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 8; “Morning Hymn” [“Awake, for the Morning Is Come”], M&A 1 (July 1835): 159, and Sacred Hymns, no. 41; “Evening Hymn” [“Come Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn”], M&A 1 (August 1835): 176, and Sacred Hymns, no. 43.

[29] “Praise to God” [“See All Creation Join”], EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 7; “God Is Love” [“Earth with Her Ten Thousand Flowers” [adapted from Thomas R. Taylor], EMS 1, no. 4 (September 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 11; “Praise to God, Immortal Praise” [adapted from Anna Barbauld], EMS 1, no. 4 (September 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 12; “To Him That Made the World” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 9 (February 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 17; “The Sun That Declines in the Far Western Sky,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 28; “Hosanna to God and the Lamb” [“The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning”], M&A 2 (January 1836): 256, and Sacred Hymns, no. 90.

[30] “The Pilgrims’ Hymns” [“Go On, Dear Pilgrims, While Below”], EMS 1, no. 2 (July 1832): [8]; “New Jerusalem” [“We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord”], EMS 1, no. 5 (October 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 14; “The Younger Son” [“Behold the Son That Went Away”], EMS 1, no. 6 (November 1832): [8].

[31] “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 26.

[32] “An Angel Came Down from the Mansions of Glory,” EMS 1, no. 9 (February 1833): [8], Sacred Hymns, no. 16, and M&A 2 (November 1835): 221; “Moroni’s Lamentation” [“I Have No Home, Where Shall I Go”], EMS 2, no. 16 (January 1834): 128, and M&A 2 (August 1836): 368; “O Stop and Tell Me, Red Man,” M&A 1 (December 1834): 34, and Sacred Hymns, no. 63.

[33] “Adam-ondi-Ahman” [“This World Was Once a Garden Place”], M&A 1 (June 1835): 144, and Sacred Hymns, no. 23.

[34] “Sabbath Hymn” [“Gently Raise the Sacred Strain”], M&A 1 (June 1835): 144, and Sacred Hymns, no. 24.

[35] “He Died! The Great Redeemer Died!” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 10; “Sabbath Hymn” [“Gently Raise the Sacred Strain”], M&A 1 (June 1835): 144, and Sacred Hymns, no. 24; “Sacrament Hymn” [“O God th’ eternal Father”], M&A 1 (July 1835): 160, and Sacred Hymns, no. 57.

[36] “Morning Hymn” [“Awake, for the Morning Is Come”], M&A 1 (July 1835): 159, and Sacred Hymns, no. 41; “Evening Hymn” [“Come Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn”], M&A 1 (August 1835): 176, and Sacred Hymns, no. 43.

[37] “Home” [“Now Let Us Rejoice in the Day of Salvation”], EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 18; “An Angel Came Down from the Mansions of Glory,” EMS 1, no. 9 (February 1833): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 16; “The Great and Glorious Gospel Light,” EMS 2, no. 14 (July 1833): 112, and Sacred Hymns, no. 22; “The Gathering” [“What Wond’rous Things We Now Behold”], EMS 2, no. 20 (May 1834): 160, Sacred Hymns, no. 33, and M&A 3 (October 1836): 400; “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 26; “Hosanna to God and the Lamb” [“The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning”], M&A 2 (January 1836): 256, and Sacred Hymns, no. 90; “Arise Ye Saints of Latter Days,” M&A 2 (March 1836): 288.

[38] “He Died! The Great Redeemer Died” [adapted from Isaac Watts], EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 10; “The Sun That Declines in the Far Western Sky,” M&A 2 (October 1835): 208, and Sacred Hymns, no. 28; “Come All Ye Sons of Zion” [adapted from Caleb Jarvis Taylor], M&A 2 (November 1835): 224, and Sacred Hymns, no. 65; “The Glorious Day Is Rolling On,” M&A 2 (January 1836): 256, and Sacred Hymns, no. 71.

[39] Wade Kotter, a music librarian and musician, has researched early evangelical hymnals and drawn comparisons to Mormonism’s first hymnbook. He has demonstrated that “certain or possible Evangelical connections have been established for sixty-eight of ninety hymns [in the 1835–1836 Sacred Hymns]; some of these connections were previously known while others became apparent as a result of this detailed comparative analysis.” See Kotter’s “The Evangelical Context of Early Latter Day Saint Hymnody,” paper presented at the John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Conference, Kirtland, Ohio, September 23, 2016. See also Poulter, “Doctrines of Faith and Hope,” 33–36. In the 1980s Michael Hicks discussed the adaptation of existing hymns for Mormonism in his Mormonism and Music: A History (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 1–14.

[40] Davidson, Our Latter-day Hymns, 35.

[41] Poulter, “Doctrines of Faith and Hope,” 33. Davidson observed in Our Latter-day Saint Hymns, “[The first LDS hymnal’s] format was typical for the times; it was small enough to fit in a pocket, measuring only three inches by four and one-half inches” (p. 9).

[42] In my view, Phelps should not be judged adversely for altering Swain’s hymn. Other writers did the same type of thing. Phelps’s motive was to engender enthusiasm among Mormons for the Restoration and the Second Coming. Furthermore, Phelps actually contributed considerable original material to the hymn.

[43] EMS 1, no. 1 (June 1832): [8], and Sacred Hymns, no. 6. Later Mormon hymnals altered some of Phelps’s original words. See Hymns, no. 6.

[44] http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_thou_in_whose_presence_my_soul_takes_d. Swain’s hymn had eighteen verses compared to Phelps’s five. The last two by Phelps have virtually no connection with Swain’s hymn.

[45] http://www.hymnary.org/text/my_god_how_endless_is_thy_love.

[46] Seventeen of these were published by Phelps in The Evening and the Morning Star and the Messenger and Advocate between 1832 and 1836. He did not publish eight others in newspapers, but they bear all the stylistic markings of Phelps’s poems and hymns. Furthermore, no other authors are ever mentioned as possibilities for these eight hymns.

[47] EMS 1, no. 3 (August 1832): [8].

[48] EMS 1, no. 10 (March 1833): [8].

[49] EMS 2, no. 13 (June 1833): 104.

[50] EMS 2, no. 14 (July 1833): 112.

[51] M&A 1 (June 1835): 144.

[52] M&A 1 (June 1835): 144.

[53] M&A 1 (October 1835): 208.

[54] M&A 1 (October 1835): 208.

[55] EMS 2, no. 15 (December 1833): 120.

[56] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in two subsequent Mormon hymnals. It bears all the Phelpsian stylistics.

[57] EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152.

[58] EMS 2, no. 19 (April 1834): 152.

[59] EMS 2, no. 20 (May 1834): 160; M&A 3 (October 1836): 400.

[60] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it came out in subsequent Mormon hymnals and was identified as being written by Phelps.

[61] M&A 1 (July 1835): 159.

[62] M&A 1 (August 1835): 176.

[63] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in seven subsequent Mormon hymnals and was attributed eventually to Phelps.

[64] M&A 1 (July 1835): 160.

[65] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in one subsequent Mormon hymnal. It bears all the Phelpsian stylistics.

[66] M&A 1 (December 1834): 34.

[67] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in three subsequent Mormon hymnals and was attributed eventually to Phelps.

[68] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in six subsequent Mormon hymnals and was attributed quickly to Phelps.

[69] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in six subsequent Mormon hymnals. It bears all the Phelpsian stylistics.

[70] This hymn is not published in any newspapers, but it appeared in six subsequent Mormon hymnals. It bears all the Phelpsian stylistics.

[71] M&A 2 (January 1836): 256.

[72] Davidson observed in Our Latter-day Hymns: “Because of [Watts’s] innovative views and poetic gifts, he is considered the single most important figure in the history of English hymnody” (p. 455).

[73] Charles Augustus Adams, A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Selected and Published by Charles A. Adams (Bellows Falls, VT: printed by S. M. Blake, 1845), 147–49.

[74] Phelps composed this hymn originally for the 1845 dedication of the Seventies Hall in Nauvoo. “A Voice from the Prophet: ‘Come to Me,’” T&S 6 (January 15, 1845): 785; NN 2 (January 9, 1845): 1; “Nauvoo,” Prophet 1 (February 8, 1845): 2.

[75] Phelps composed this poem, first entitled “Dedication Hymn,” after the Nauvoo Temple was completed and utilized for sacred ordinances in December 1845 and January and February 1846. W. W. Phelps, “Dedication Hymn,” T&S 6 (February 15, 1846): 1135.