Scottish educator and poet Andrew Young (1807-89) wrote the words to this hymn while living in India in 1838 and fit it to a popular song of that time titled “I Have Come from a Happy Land: The Celebrated Dancing Girls’ Song.” The title page of the song by Robert Archibald Smith (1780-1829) claims that the melody is a “Hindustani Air.” The song quickly worked its way into hymnbooks intended for use in Sunday schools.