Songfacts®:

• Written in 3/4 time, this well-known hymn has words by William P. MacKay, music by John J. Husband, and a convoluted history.
  
  William Paton MacKay (or Mackay) was a native of Scotland. Born at Montrose in 1839, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh as a doctor, but later ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He wrote or co-wrote a number of hymns.
  
  John Jenkins Husband was born at Plymouth, England c1760 and likewise entered the church. In 1809, he immigrated to the United States where he combined a post in a Philadelphia church with teaching music. The original title of the melody was "Thine The Glory," and was used in an 1858 hymn book with the words to "Rejoice And Be Glad" by Horatius Bonar.
• The title comes from Psalm 85.6:
  
  Will you not revive us again
  That your people may rejoice in you?
  
  (The above is from the New International Version at Biblegateway).
• Originally, Mackay's version began "O Lord, revive Thy work." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3