6175. Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling

1. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Refrain
Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

2. Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me? [Refrain]

3. Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me. [Refrain]

4. O for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me. [Refrain]

Text Information
First Line: Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling
Title: Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
Author: Will L. Thompson (1880)
Refrain First Line: Come home, come home
Language: English
Source: Will L. Thomp­son, in Spark­ling Gems Nos. 1 and 2, by J. Cal­vin Bush­ey (Chi­ca­go, Ill­i­nois: Will L. Thomp­son & Com­pa­ny, 1880
Copyright: Public Domain
Notes: This hymn was sung at a memorial service for American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, April 8, 1968, & in the 1985 Academy Award winning movie "Trip to Bountiful." When the world-re­nowned lay preach­er, Dwight Ly­man Moo­dy, lay on his death bed in his North­field, Mass­a­chu­setts, home, Will Thomp­son made a spe­cial vi­sit to in­quire as to his con­di­tion. The at­tend­ing phy­si­cian re­fused to ad­mit him to the sick­room, and Moody heard them talk­ing just out­side the bed­room door. Re­cog­niz­ing Thomp­son’s voice, he called for him to come to his bed­side. Tak­ing the Ohio po­et-com­pos­er by the hand, the dy­ing evan­gel­ist said, "Will, I would ra­ther have writ­ten ‘Soft­ly and Ten­der­ly Je­sus is Call­ing’ than an­y­thing I have been able to do in my whole life." Emurian, p. 109
Tune Information
Name: [Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling]
Composer: Will Lamartine Thompson (1880)
Incipit: 32117 12166 51113
Key: A♭ Major
Source: Will L. Thomp­son, in Spark­ling Gems Nos. 1 and 2, by J. Cal­vin Bush­ey (Chi­ca­go, Ill­i­nois: Will L. Thomp­son & Com­pa­ny, 1880)
Copyright: Public Domain



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