We Shall See Jesus

I usually think of this song as “Once on a hillside,” but the correct title is We Shall See Jesus. According to this page and others, Dianne Branscum Wilkinson (1944-2021) wrote the words and music. She lived West Memphis, Arkansas when she wrote the song circa 1981. She was a long-time member and pianist at Springhill Baptist Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee. Dianne was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2020.

The song focuses on four mountaintop or hillside experiences when people gather in reference to Jesus Christ – the feeding of the multitude (John 6:3ff.), the crucifixion (John 19:16-18), the ascension (Matthew 28:16ff.), and the glorious coming of Jesus (Zechariah 14:4). It alludes to numerous other biblical stories of Jesus along the way (including 1 John 3:1-3).

Dianne recalls writing the story this way:

“I was living in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1981, and I began to think about the times when Jesus was on a hillside with people gathered around Him. As I thought of that settting, I wondered what it must have been like to just reach out and touch His hand—to be there in His presence, face to face. Suddenly, I realized that one day we will have the same opportunity that those people in Bible days had. Some day I will see Him just as they Him, as they sat with Him on the hillside, as He fed the thousands, touched the blind eyes, and healed the broken spirits. The song began to unfold in that way—in a triple setting.” Stories Behind 50 Southern Gospel Favorites, Volume 1 (Lindsay Terry, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2002, p. 80)

Once on a hillside, people were gathered

Hoping to see him as thousands were fed.

He touched the blind eyes, he healed broken spirits

He moved with compassion, when he raised up the dead.

 

Once on a hillside, people were gathered

Watching as Jesus was crucified.

No one showed mercy to one who had healed them,

Yet Jesus loved them, as he suffered and died.

 

Once on a hillside, people were gathered

For Jesus had risen and soon would ascend;

But then as He blessed them, he rose to the heavens

And he gave them this promise: that he’d come back again.

 

We shall see Jesus, just as they saw him;

There is no greater promise than this.

When he returns in power and glory

We shall see Jesus

(We shall see Jesus) just as he is.

 

We Shall See Jesus was first sung by and became the signature song of Glen Payne, lead singer of the Cathedral Quartet.

 

Glen Weldon Payne was born October 25, 1926 in Royse City, Texas. For fifty-five years he was a Southern gospel music singer, first joining the Stamps-Baxter Quartet in 1944. The Cathedral Trio was formed in 1963, and became the Cathedral Quartet when they added bass singer George Younce in 1964. Though the group changed some through the years, Payne and Younce were there from beginning to end – the only lead singer and bass singer the group ever had. Glen died in Franklin, Tennessee October 15, 1999 after he was hospitalized during the Cathedral’s farewell tour. His last recorded song was perhaps I Won’t Have To Cross Jordan Alone, sung over the phone from his hospital bed during the National Quartet Convention.

 

Glen Payne was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 1997. He is buried at Williamson Memorial Gardens in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee.