Recently I became acquainted for the first time with a very old hymn which has proved to be a tremendous blessing to me. I’d like to share it with you in the form of a factual hymn story drawn from the ministry of William Carey, the preeminent pioneer missionary to Bengal, India. I hope both the hymn story and the hymn will be a significant blessing and inspiration to you as it has been to me.
Carey and his initial missionary colleague in Bengal, John Thomas, carried out seven long years of diligent evangelistic effort before they won their first Indian convert to Christ. On a number of occasions they had seen Indians, both Hindus and Muslims, show initial interest in the Christian scriptures and the good news of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Some of those individuals inquired about Jesus for months and seemed near believing in Him as their Savior. But each time, in the end, they drew back and did not profess Christ.
For them, becoming a Christian would have involved turning from their former religious beliefs and facing strong disapproval and opposition from family members and friends. In addition, by associating with foreign missionaries or with Indians from other social classes who were similarly seeking after Christ, they would be breaking the ironclad caste system which ruled India. Breaking caste was strictly forbidden and would result in total familial and social ostracism, and likely in persecution.
Near the end of November 1800, Thomas, who was also a medical doctor, reset the dislocated shoulder of a Hindu carpenter named Krishna Pal. Krishna lived in Serampore, where the missionaries had their headquarters, fourteen miles north of Calcutta. In addition to ministering to Krishna’s physical need on that occasion, Carey and Thomas used the opportunity to share the gospel of salvation with him and his family at his house.
After that, Krishna and his brother Gokul repeatedly visited the missionaries at their mission house to learn more about Christianity. Carey, in turn, continued his visits to Krishna’s home, where he shared Christ with them and several of their neighbors. Krishna’s wife Rasu and her sister Joymooni joined him and Gokul in desiring to follow Jesus. They all said they were ready to lose caste and all for Christ. But when Gokul shared with his wife his intention to profess faith in Jesus, she left him and went to live with her father.
Despite that, on Monday, December 22, Gokul, Krishna, Rasu, and Joymooni shared their personal testimonies of having come to faith in Christ at an official church meeting at the mission house. They were welcomed into the church’s membership, and it was agreed they would all be baptized the following Sunday.
The next morning, however, some 2,000 people gathered at Krishna’s house and poured out anathemas against him for breaking caste and becoming a Christian. Serampore was a Danish settlement, and the mob dragged Krishna and Gokul to the Danish magistrate’s house. The magistrate commended rather than condemned the two brothers, then ordered the crowd to disperse. Fearing that “some mischief” or even murder might befall Krishna’s household that night, the missionaries appealed to the Danish governor, who sent a sepoy to keep watch throughout the night.
Later that week Gokul’s wife offered to reconcile with him if he returned to his Hindu beliefs. This caused him to hesitate about receiving Christian baptism. Rasu and Joymooni likewise hesitated in being baptized after being confronted by the tearful appeals of their relatives.
Early in the afternoon on Sunday, December 28, however, Krishna steadfastly took his stand, alone, by being baptized by Carey in the Hooghly River that flowed past the mission property. A large number of Hindus, Portuguese, and Europeans witnessed the baptismal service.
Before baptizing Krishna, Carey addressed the congregation in Bengali and led them in singing a Bengali translation of the hymn “Jesus, and Shall It Ever Be.” The hymn was perfectly suited for the occasion, being a devotional expression of the appropriateness of readily professing Christ, rather than being ashamed to do so. Some of the verses read:
Jesus! and shall it ever be
A mortal man ashamed of thee?
Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star;
He sheds the beams of light divine
O’er this benighted soul of mine.
Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heaven depend!
No, when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name.
Till then – nor is my boasting vain –
Till then I boast a Savior slain;
And oh, may this my glory be:
That Christ is not ashamed of me.
This hymn was originally written by Joseph Grigg in 1765 and altered by Benjamin Francis in 1787. Grigg’s original version of the hymn contained seven stanzas. The hymn has been published in many hymnals, which include (or exclude) quite a variety of verses and set the song to different tunes. Not all presentations of the hymn are equally attractive. But here is a link to one presentation which I find to be edifying, especially as thoughtful attention is given to the printed lyrics: https://youtu.be/6cE1PFP0d3k (Just skip past the unrelated ad if that pops up.)
By the way, in the weeks and months that followed Krishna’s baptism, his wife, sister-in-law, and brother all publicly signified their Christian faith by being baptized. Happily, Gokul’s wife also became a Christian and was baptized. They all went on to faithfully serve Jesus, despite the sacrifices and persecution that brought them.
Copyright 2025 by Vance E. Christie
