"On the Wings of a Dove" stayed at Number 1 on the country charts for 10 weeks for Ferlin Husky in 1960. His manager, Robert B. "Bob" Ferguson, wrote the song that's been recorded by artists spanning from the Fox Brothers to Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Husky recalls that he and musician/writer Ferguson wrote "On the Wings of a Dove" together although he let Ferguson have all the writer's credits because Husky is the publisher of the song.

Ferguson, who said he took a job producing movies for the Tennessee Game & Fish Commission in 1955, told author Dorothy Horstman, "This was a personal expression of faith and joy in achieving a goal. When I wrote it, I had just completed 13 films on wildlife, and I was elated that the job was done."

Husky says it took him five years to get the song recorded.

"Mr. Ken Nelson, the A & R Man at Capital in Nashville, said 'People are not buying those religious-type songs,'" Husky says. "'It won't sell.' Every time I'd record I'd bring it up. Finally, he said to me one day 'If you want to do it, you will be history.'"

Husky tried to get the biggest stars such as Tennessee Ernie Ford and producers Don Law and Owen Bradley to record it, but no one did.

After being unsuccessful in getting cuts by other artists, Husky cut the song during a session Nelson missed due to a delayed flight connection.

"When I found out Nelson wasn't going to be there, I said 'Well good. Let's cut 'Wings of a Dove,' recalls Husky. "Soon as I started, everybody knew it. They were all singing it. That is just the way it came out."

In just two takes, he had it -and Nelson still didn't see it as a hit.

But the public proved Nelson wrong.

"The rhythm was so different at the time," Husky says. "Absolutely, it was God-inspired. That is why it hit. It was like a miracle."

Earle Wheeler of the Marksmen Quartet, the 2007 Country Gospel Band of the Year, has sang "On the Wings of a Dove" hundreds of times in his 40-year career.

"The uplifting spirit of the melody combined with the promise that God's love comes down to us through one of His most beautiful creations - a dove is what makes this song connect with so many people," he says. "I think it is a reminder that God is always looking out for us even when things are at their toughest."

Possibly that is just what all of these songs in this series capture - the feeling that God is always there with His amazing grace, reminding us of His love.

A comment shared by the Dottie Rambo helps to sum up this quest: "A good anointed gospel song written for the Glory of God - or just to be a testimony to the Lord - will continue to be sung long after the writer has left us. But a nice song without anointing tends to live it's life and die on the vine."