1 Lo! what a rapturous joy possessed
The tender parent's throbbing breast,
To see his spendthrift son return,
And hear him his past follies mourn.
2 Thus our blessed Savior won't despise
The contrite heart for sacrifice;
The deep=fetched sigh, the secret groan,
Rises accepted to his throne.
3 He meets, with tokens of his grace
The trembling lip, the blushing face;
His bowels yearn when sinners pray,
And mercy bears their sins away.
4 When filled with grief, o'erwhelmed with shame,
He, pitying, heals their broken frame;
He hears their sad complaints, and spies
His image in their weeping eyes.
The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799
