Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

William Williams was born in Wales, the son of a farmer. His plans to be a physician were suddenly changed by the fervent preaching of Welsh evangelist Howell Harris. Williams was converted and soon thereafter changed his profession to become a physician of the soul - a preacher. He became an itinerant evangelist and during his 43 years of ministry, by his own records, traveled more than 95,000 miles.

In addition to his preaching, Williams wrote over 800 hymns in the Welsh language and more than 100 in English. His best known is this autobiographical prayer with its many Old Testament allusions.

Many years later, when President James Garfield was dying of an assassin’s bullet, he seemed to rally and was allowed to sit by the window. His wife began singing this hymn, and the President, listening intently, began to cry. To his doctor, William Bliss, he said, “Glorious, Bliss, isn’t it?”

This hymn was also sung at the funeral of England’s Princess Diana.