How to Use this Devotional

When hope feels distant and the weight of this world grows heavy, the hymns of heaven can remind us where our true home lies. This 5-day devotional, based on Hosannas Forever by David and Barbara Leeman, features five timeless hymns—each paired with a brief reflection and the story behind its lyrics and melody. With audio and sheet music included, you’ll be invited to listen, reflect, and lift your heart toward eternity. Perfect for those walking through grief, weariness, or simply needing a renewed vision of the hope we have in Christ.

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” is a hymn of the Christian’s pilgrimage to Heaven. Its original title was “Strength to Pass through the Wilderness.” William Williams lived during the “Great Awakening” in Wales. He had planned to become a doctor, but upon hearing a sermon by Howell Harris, he accepted Christ as his Savior, and for forty-three years he traveled throughout Wales, preaching. Williams is said to have traveled 95,000 miles on foot or horseback. He spoke to crowds of over 10,000 and at one time to 80,000. He credited God with giving him a voice that allowed him to speak loudly enough so that most of the crowd could hear him.

Today, Williams is remembered for his hymn writing. He wrote eight hundred hymns and was called the “sweet singer of Wales” and also the “Watts of Wales.”

John Hughes composed this tune in 1907 to commemorate a musical festival held in the Rhondda Valley of Wales. He named it Cwm Rhondda, the Welsh name of the valley.

This hymn, sung in Great Britain as “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer,” is often heard at Royal events, including the funerals of Princess Diana, the Queen Mother, and most recently, Queen Elizabeth. Interestingly, it was also sung at the weddings of princes William and Harry. In Wales, you will hear it sung at soccer games! It is their “unofficial national anthem,” and they sing it with great power and enthusiasm.

As you sing this hymn . . . think of yourself as a pilgrim! The dictionary describes a pilgrim as a person who goes on a long journey—usually to a foreign land and often for a religious purpose. In Pilgrim’s Progress the central figure is named Christian. He is on a pilgrimage to the Celestial City, and is aided and guided by God sending other Christians along the way. Many times he feels desperate and tempted to give up. The words “I am weak, but Thou art mighty” are words all pilgrims should acknowledge.

The psalmist used the word “pilgrimage” in Psalm 84:5: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage” (NIV), and in Psalm 119:54: “Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (KJV). God promises the pilgrim blessing, protection, and joy in following Him and knowing His Word, even as we travel in a sinful and sometimes sorrowful world.

In stanza 3, this pilgrim crosses the Jordan River—or into death. What is the “death of death”? It means that in the resurrection, death is defeated. This results in our eternal song of praise that we will sing in Heaven. We cannot fully comprehend this glorious end to our pilgrimage, but we can know that it is true: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15: 55).