1 Come hither, ye that fear the Lord,
Disciples of God's suff'ring son;
Let me relate, and you record,
What he for my poor soul has done.

2 The way of truth I quickly miss'd,
And farther stray'd, and farther still;
Expected to be saved by Christ,
But to be holy had no will.

3 The road of death with rash career
I ran, and gloried in my shame;
Abused his grace, despised his fear,
And others taught to do the same.

4 Far, far from home, on husks I feed,
Puff'd up with each fantastic whim;
With swine a beastly life I lead,
And served God's foe instead of him.

5 A forward fool, a willing drudge,
I acted for the prince of hell;
Did all he bade without a grudge;
And boasted I could sin so well.

6 Bold blasphemies employ'd my tongue;
I heeded not my heart unclean;
Lost all regard of right or wrong'
In though, in word, in act, obscene.

7 My body was with lust defield,
My soul I pamper'd up in pride;
Could sit and hear the Lord reviled,
The Saviour of mankind denied.

8 I strove to make my flesh decay
With foul disease and wasting pain;
I strove to fling my life away,
And damn my soul; but strove in vain!

9 The Lord, from whom I long backslid,
First check'd me with some gentle stings;
Turn'd on me, look'd, and softly chid.
And bade me hope for grater things.

10 Soon to his bar he made me come;
Arraigned, convicted, cast, I stood;
Expecting from his mouth the doom
Of those who trample on his blood.

11 Pangs of remorse my conscience tore,
Hell open'd hideous to my view,
And what I only heard before,
I found, by sad experience, true.

12 O what a dismal state was this!
What horrors shook my feeble frame!
But, brethren, surely you can guess;
For you, perhaps, have felt the same.

13 But O the goodness of our God!
What pity melts his tender heart!
He saw me weltering in my blood,
And came and eased me of my smart.

14 While I was yet a great way off,
He ran, and on my neck he fell;
My short distress he judged enough,
And snatch;d me from the brink of hell.

15 What an amazing change was here!
I look'd for hell, he brought me heaven.
"Cheer up," said He; "dismiss thy fear;
Cheer up; thy sins are all forgiven."

16 I would object: but faster much
He answer'd, "Peace!" "What me?" "Yes, thee."
"But my enormous crimes are such"—
"I give thee pardon, full and free."

17 "But for the future, Lord" —"I am
Thy great salvation, perfect, whole.
Behold thy bad works shall not damn,
Nor can thy good works save thy soul

18 "Renounce them both, Myself alone
Will for thee work, and in thee too;
Henceforth I make thy cause my own,
and undertake to bring thee through."

19 He said. I took the full release;
The Lord has sign'd it with his blood!
My horrors fled, and perfect peace,
And joy unspeakable ensued.

20 I only begg'd one humble boon,
Nor did the Lord offended seem,
Some service might by me be done
To souls that truly trust in him.

21 Thus I, who lately had been cast,
And fear'd a just but heavy doom,
Received a pardon for the past,
A promise for the time to come.

22 This promise oft I call to mind,
As through some painful paths I go;
And secret consolation find,
A strength to fight with every foe.

23 And oft times when the tempter sly
Affirms it fancied, forged, or vain,
Jesus appears, disproves the lie,
and kindly makes it oe'r again.