1 Behold a Stranger at the door!
He gently knocks, has knocked before,
Has waited long, is waiting still:
You treat no other friend so ill.
2 O lovely attitude! He stands
With melting heart and laden hands:
O matchless kindness! and He shows
This matchless kindness to His foes.
3 But will He prove a friend indeed?
He will; the very friend you need;
The Friend of sinners--yea, 'tis He,
With garments dyed on Calvary.
4 Rise, touched with gratitude divine;
Turn out His enemy and thine,
That soul-destroying monster, sin,
And let the heavenly Stranger in.
Amen.
Source: Worship and Service Hymnal: For Church, School, and Home #207
Behold, a stranger at the door. J. Grigg. [Expostulation.] This is one of Four Hymns on Divine Subjects, &c., 1765, in 11 stanzas of 4 lines, a second being the well-known "Jesus, and shall it ever be?" (q.v.). It came into congregational use at an early date, but usually in an abbreviated form. Both in Great Britain, and in America, various arrangements of the text are given in collections in common use. The full original text was reprinted in D. Sedgwick's edition of Grigg's Hymns, &c, 1861. It is also found in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, and in Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 254.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)