
Printing was expensive, and not every one could read, so most hymns were learned aurally and remembered.
One can only imagine how important verse four was for the Martyrs, especially during transportation.
It is easy to imagine the prisoners bursting into song from the cells, or perhaps on the transportation ships.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Click here to see "O for a thousand tongues to sing" another great hymn by Charles Wesley
The tune normally used for this hymn, Sagina, is among the most stirring melodies used by the Church. It matches the mood of the words perfectly.
In the early days of the Methodist Church almost all hymns were sung unaccompanied, since many services were held in the open air, and very few churches could afford instruments anyway.
The tradition of singing unaccompanied when the mood takes people is still upheld in the Methodist Church. It is especially stirring when people attending meetings or the annual Methodist Conference decide on the spur of the moment that hymn is needed!