Souls Perishing for Lack of Knowledge

Representative Text

1. Shepherd of souls, with pitying eye
The thousands of our Israel see:
To Thee, in their behalf we cry,
Ourselves but newly found in Thee.

2. See, where o’er desert wastes they err,
And neither food nor feeder have,
Nor fold, nor place of refuge near;
For no man cares their souls to save.

3. Thy people, Lord, are sold for naught,
Nor know they their Redeemer nigh;
They perish, whom Thyself hast bought;
Their souls for lack of knowledge die.

4. The pit its mouth hath opened wide,
To swallow up its careless prey;
Why should they die, when Thou hast died,
Hast died to bear their sins away?

5. Why should the foe Thy purchase seize?
Remember, Lord, Thy dying groans:
The meed of all Thy sufferings these;
O claim them for Thy ransomed ones!

6. Extend to these Thy pardoning grace;
To these be Thy salvation showed:
O add them to Thy chosen race!
O sprinkle all their hearts with blood!

7. Still let the publicans draw near:
Open the door of faith and Heaven;
And grant their hearts Thy word to hear,
And witness all their sins forgiven.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #6034

Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Shepherd of souls, with pitying eye
Title: Souls Perishing for Lack of Knowledge
Author: Charles Wesley
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

SESSIONS


AMES


DUKE STREET

First published anonymously in Henry Boyd's Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1793), DUKE STREET was credited to John Hatton (b. Warrington, England, c. 1710; d, St. Helen's, Lancaster, England, 1793) in William Dixon's Euphonia (1805). Virtually nothing is known about Hatton, its composer,…

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The Cyber Hymnal #6034
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The Cyber Hymnal #6034

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