[5] Then we shall know,If we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning,and he shall come unto us as the rain,as the latter and former rain unto the earthCushing wrote this hymn in New York after he became a Christian minister in 1854; he started writing hymns in 1870 when his health declined, forcing him to retire.

[6] Cushing once said about his inspiration to write it: Longing to give up all for Christ who had given his life for me, I wanted to be willing to lay everything at his feet, with no wish but to do his will, to live henceforth only for his glory.

Out of this feeling came the hymn, ‘Follow On.’ It was written with the prayer and the hope that some heart might by it be led to give up all for Christ.

[7] There is now a movement to bring back certain traditional hymns such as "Follow On" into current usage.

[9] There have been disagreements over the Rangers fans' usage of the hymn's music as their anthem with claims such as from the Boys' Brigade complaining that using it and changing the lyrics prevented it from remaining a major hymn in their organization because of the association with Rangers.