The song was first performed in 1956 by the Radio Choir of the Fellowship Baptist Church in Chicago. Goodson found solace in 1 Peter 1:7: “…the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ . . .” (KJV) (Terry, 2016, n.p.). One is also reminded of I Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (KJV). The famous reference to the Ebenezer stone is also cited in stanza 2 of “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson (1735-1790). In addition, see I Chronicles 17:16b: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” (KJV)
Stanza 1, beginning with “Don’t be discouraged . . .,” offers encouragement with the assurance that “He’ll bear your burdens.” Stanza 2 offers a personal testimony, beginning with a spoken recitation, “Just the other day I heard a man say he didn’t believe in God’s Word . . .”. The response of the witness is, “He’s never failed me yet.”
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The title of the song has been adopted by African American writers as the title for other works: Judith Weisenfeld and Richard Newman, This Far by Faith: Readings in African American Women’s Religious Biography (1961) and Juan Williams and Quinton Hosford Dixie, This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience (2003). The African American Lutheran hymnal is titled This Far by Faith (1999). This hymnal provides a fuller piano accompaniment influenced by Cooper-Lightner’s arrangement.
A YouTube recording by Dr. James Abbington to accompany the African American Heritage Hymnal (2000) provides a four-part arrangement by Abbington and demonstrates the song’s continued influence (Abbington, 2008, n.p.). A pedagogical YouTube video offers instructions on how to accompany the song (“Gospel Hymn Lesson,” n.p.). Finally, the song has had “crossover” appeal with white congregations in a gospel quartet version (See “Sing Brothers Sing,” 1967, n.p.). Earlier, this hymn appeared only in African American hymnals. It now is included in recent mainline hymnals such as Chalice Hymnal (1995), Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), Glory to God (2013), and the bilingual hymnal Santo, Santo, Santo / Holy, Holy, Holy (2019).
Sources:
James Abbington, 42 Treasured Favorites from the African American Heritage Hymnal (2008):
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu-yIfKsHF0&feature=emb_logo. Accessed November 17, 2019.
Horace Clarence Boyer, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel (Washington, D.C.: Elliott & Clark Publishing, 1995).
Jacqueline Cogdell Djedje, “Los Angeles Composers of African American Gospel Music: The First Generations,” American Music 11:4 (Winter, 1993), 412-457.
Gospel Hymn Lesson: We’ve Come This Far by Faith: The Gospel University
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k97r_MBF2Bc. Accessed November 17, 2019.
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Sing Brothers Sing (1967), Statesmen Quartet with Lovie Lister,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=OleclpEsF9Q&feature=emb_logo. Accessed November 17, 2019.
Lindsay Terry, “Story Behind the Song: ‘We’ve Come This far by Faith’,” Lifestyle (May 19, 2016): https://www.staugustine.com/article/20160519/LIFESTYLE/305199923. Accessed November 27, 2019.
J.R. Watson, “We’ve Come This Far by Faith,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed November 27, 2019, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/w/we’ve-come-this-far-by-faith.
Carlton R. Young, “Albert A. Goodson,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed November 27, 2019, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/a/albert-a-goodson.
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