I Know Whom I Have Believed...


Friday, March 13, 2009

Another Song for Granddaddy – TSMSS

Those of you who visited last week know I am sharing some special songs this month in honor of my Granddaddy. You can read the story behind that here. This week's selection is "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder." This was the song that Granddaddy led at the end of homecoming services at church. While searching for some audio to share, I came across this bit of history on the song...


In 1893 James M. Black, a Meth­od­ist Sun­day school teach­er in Wil­liams­port, Penn­syl­van­ia, was call­ing roll one day for a youth meet­ing. Young Bes­sie, daugh­ter of a drunk­ard, did not show up, and he was dis­ap­point­ed at her fail­ure to ap­pear. Black made a com­ment to the ef­fect, “Well, I trust when the roll is called up yon­der, she’ll be there.” He tried to re­spond with an ap­prop­ri­ate song, but could not find one in his song book:

“This lack of a fit­ting song caused me both sor­row and dis­ap­point­ment. An in­ner voice seemed to say, “Why don’t you write one?” I put away the thought. As I opened the gate on my way home, the same thought came again so strong­ly that tears filled my eyes. I en­tered the house and sat down at the pi­a­no. The words came to me ef­fort­less­ly…The tune came the same way—I dared not change a single note or word.”




When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,

And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;

When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,

And the roll is called up yonder,
I'll be there.

When the roll, is called up yon-der,
When the roll, is called up yon-der,
When the roll, is called up yon-der,
When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there.

On that bright and cloudless
morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Please visit Amy, the hostess of Then Sings My Soul Saturday at Signs, Miracles, and Wonders!


10 thoughts:

IA. said...

Thanks for sharing this song! My son loves singing this, although he has to be reminded many times that it's not "When the roll is called uponder..." :D Holds special meaning to us especially now that we've just recently lost his grandmother. What hope we have, to be with Jesus when he calls the roll up yonder!

Angela said...

Thank you so much for sharing and putting up the lyrics...

Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
amen amen amen

Carrie said...

What an extremely interesting story!!!! I remember singing this one too....many times!!!

Carolyn said...

Thank you for sharing the history of this song. Knowing it makes it even more special. I've always loved it.
Bless you, Carolyn

Sita said...

Oh my, this brings back memories of my childhood singing thses hymns...loved "Love Lifted Me" too.saw you posted it below...thanks...blessings to you..

Andrea said...

This is a wonderful old hymn. It inspires me to be ready to go when the Lord calls. Thank you for sharing it. God bless, and have great Sunday!

A Stone Gatherer said...

I love that song! I have wonderful memories of singing it as a young girl in the church I grew up in! Thanks for stopping by!

Andrea said...

Karen, I am passing a friendship award on to you. You have been such an encouragement to me. Just go to my blog and copy the award and quoted text. May God bless you. (I tired to copy and paste it here, but I couldn't get it to work.)

seesawfaith said...

This is so fun!

I love that you have these memories recorded, and I love that you keep taking me back to being a kid. My dad used to sing this all the time!

Cathy said...

That was really neat, and thanks for the story. My little old cat, sitting in my lap, just looked at me in amazement as I sang. :o)

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