When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder

Scripture Verse

I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Revelation 20:12

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: James M. Black, in Re­vi­val Hymns, Se­lect­ed and Ar­ranged, ed­it­ed by J. M. Kerr (To­ron­to, On­tar­io, Ca­na­da: Will­iam Briggs, 1889) (🔊 pdf nwc). This song was sung in the 1941 Aca­de­my Award win­ning mo­vie Serg­eant York. Al­so see At the Great Roll Call in Heav­en and The Roll Call in Heav­en.

Origin of the Song

While a teach­er in a Sun­day-school [in Will­iams­port, Penn­syl­van­ia] and pre­si­dent of a young peo­ple’s so­cie­ty, says the au­thor of this hymn, I one day met a girl, four­teen years old, poor­ly clad and the child of a drunk­ard. She ac­cept­ed my in­vi­ta­tion to at­tend the Sun­day-school, and joined the young peo­ple’s so­ci­ety.

One ev­en­ing at a con­se­cra­tion-meet­ing, when mem­bers an­swered the roll-call by re­peat­ing Scrip­ture texts, she failed to re­spond. I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lamb’s Book of Life, if one of us should be ab­sent.

And I said, O God, when my own name is called up yon­der, may I be there to re­spond! I longed for some­thing suit­able to sing just then, but I could find noth­ing in the books. We closed the meet­ing, and on my way home I was still wish­ing that there might be a song that could be sung on such oc­ca­sions.

The thought came to me, Why don’t you make it? I dis­missed the idea, think­ing that I could nev­er write such a hymn. When I reached my house my wife saw that I was deep­ly trou­bled, and quest­ioned me, but I made no re­ply.

Then the words of the first stan­za came to me in full. In fif­teen min­utes more I had com­posed the oth­er two vers­es. Go­ing to the pi­ano, I played the mus­ic just as it is found to­day in the hymn books, note for note, and I have nev­er dared to change a sin­gle word or a note of the piece since.

Sankey, pp. 302–03

Lyrics

When the trum­pet of the Lord shall sound, And time shall be no more, And the morn­ing breaks, eter­nal, bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall ga­ther Over on the oth­er shore, And the roll is called up yon­der, I’ll be there.

Refrain

When the roll, is called up yon­der, When the roll is called up yon­der, When the roll is called up yon­der, When the roll is called up yon­der I’ll be there.

On that bright and cloud­less morn­ing When the dead in Christ shall rise, And the glo­ry of His re­sur­rect­ion share; When His chos­en ones shall ga­ther To their home be­yond the skies, And the roll is called up yon­der, I’ll be there.

Refrain

Let us la­bor for the Mas­ter From the dawn till set­ting sun, Let us talk of all His won­drous love and care; Then when all of life is ov­er, And our work on earth is done, And the roll is called up yon­der, I’ll be there.

Refrain