The lyrics to “The Master Has Come” were written by Sarah Doudney, daughter of Mr. George E. Doudney, of Cosham, Hants She was born near Portsmouth, but removed into a remote village in Hampshire at an early age. Her first efforts in literature were made when she was quite young, her poem, "The Lessons of the Water-Mill," a popular song, especially in America, having been written when she was only fifteen. Known mainly to the reading public through her stories, A Woman's Glory, Stepping Stones, and others, and through her contributions to the Sunday Magazine, Good Words, and other serials, her works, including fiction, and sacred and secular poems, have been widely read and appreciated. Her sacred poems are the least numerous of her writings. Some of these, as, "The Master hath come, and He calls us to follow," and "Savior, now the day is ending," for use at the close of Evening Service, and of more than usual merit, create the desire for more of a like kind. Greater use, however, may be made of what she has written than has been done. By being buried in magazine literature, her hymns are somewhat difficult to trace. Her Psalms of Life was published by Houlston in 1871.

The melody is a traditional Welsh tune, The Ash Grove.

The Master has called us; the road may be dreary,
and dangers and sorrows are strewn on the track;
but God's Holy Spirit shall comfort the weary;
we follow the Savior and cannot turn back;
The Master has called us: though doubt and temptation
may compass our journey, we cheerfully sing:
"press onward, look upward," thru much tribulation;
the children of Zion must follow their King.