The Story Behind the Song
William Williams (1717-1791) was a Welsh circuit-riding preacher and poet whose contributions to church song gained him two nicknames. One of them, “The Watts of Wales,” was an allusion to Isaac Watts (1674-1748), a pastor and hymn writer of the previous generation who is known as the “Father of English Hymnody.” Watts was “the one man who most changed the course of English-speaking congregational praise.” The other epithet, “The Sweet Singer of Wales,” is a much further throwback. It’s a reference to King David, the great psalm writer, who was called “the sweet psalmist of Israel” in 2 Samuel 23:1.
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In 1745, Williams published a collection of hymns in his native language, including one entitled “Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch” (that’s “Lord, Lead Me through the Wilderness” for those of you whose high school Welsh is a little rusty). Subtitled “A prayer for strength to go through the wilderness of the world,” it was translated into English by Peter Williams (no relationship to William) in 1771. That’s the source for the first stanza that we commonly sing today. Stanzas two and three were translated into English by William Williams that same year.
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The picture of a pilgrimage that’s painted by “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” draws heavily upon the history of the children of Israel as they were being led out of Egyptian slavery, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. Early in that journey, Pharaoh regretted letting them leave and sent his army after the Israelites. After God miraculously led his people through the Red Sea and destroyed the pursuing warriors, Moses and the people sang a victory song, extolling God’s guidance and provision: “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode” (Exodus 15:13). Peter Williams recapped that event in the first half of stanza 1.
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In the second half of that first stanza, he mentions “bread of heaven” that satisfies fully the one who eats of it. That lyric recalls the time when the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron (but actually against God), complaining, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3). God answered, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you…” (16:4) and provided quail and manna. It also brings to mind Jesus’ words in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger…”
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In the opening lines of stanza two, Williams writes of a crystal fountain with healing waters. Again, he’s making multiple Biblical allusions. In Exodus 17, the people continue to complain, this time about a lack of water—“Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3). And once again, God miraculously provided. He told Moses, “I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (17:6). But there are other references, too. When Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, he spoke of himself as the source of living water and said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). And in Revelation 22:1, John describes “the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
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The remaining lines of the second stanza recall the way God showed his people where to go—“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night” (Exodus 13:21)—and how he protected them: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped” (Psalm 28:7).
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When the people of Israel finally reached the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, they had one final barrier to cross before entering Canaan—the Jordan River. In Christian imagery, crossing the Jordan has come to mean dying and entering heaven. In the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” we sing, “I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, coming for to carry me home [to heaven]? A band of angels coming after me, coming for to carry me home.” That metaphor is also used in the hymn “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks,” in which we sing, “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan’s fair and happy land [heaven], where my possessions lie.”
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William Williams wrote his hymn as a “prayer for strength to go through the wilderness of the world.” The journey would be complete when he was landed safely on Canaan’s side of the river. And when that happened, he would offer songs of praises forever. That’s the ultimate destination for all Christians, for all who have placed their faith in Jesus. We, too, will join with the angels and saints who have gone before to lift up an everlasting “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13).
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