It was written by Scottish-born, later English-resident, Morovian-church member, hymn writer, poet and newspaper editor, James Montgomery (1771-1854) in 1834, and altered by Frances A. Hutton (1789-1871).
With meter 6.5.6.5 D, tunes it is set to include:
- PENITENCE (Lane) by American composer Spencer Lane (1843-1903) - the most-commonly used tune
- MARY MAGDALENE (Dykes) by English organist and composer John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876).
