This is one of them "Zipper" songs. Every verse, and even the chorus can easily be zipped in and out of other gospel songs. There are a ton of "zipper" verses, and when black singers are "improvising," they are often just pulling the zipper verses out of a bag.

Some others are:

The Jordan river is chilly and cold
It chills the body, but not the soul


I went down to the river to pray
My soul got happy and I stayed all day


My hands got stuck to the gospel plow
I won't take nothin' for my journey now


You can talk about me just as much as you please
I'm goin' to talk about you down on my knees.

There must be dozens of them.

The Mariners had a hit recording of this song back in the early 50's. They were a rarity for their time... an inter-racial quartet.

Jerry