this song was written in 1896
Van DeVenter attended Hillsdale College, then taught art in Sharon, Pennsylvania. After several years, though, he decided to switch to a career in evangelism, working with Wilbur Chapman and others in America and England. Toward the end of his life, he lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, then moved to Tampa, Florida, around 1923. He was professor of hymnology at the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity Bible College) for four years.