[Editor: This hymn by L. E. Homfray was published in Church Life (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 16 January 1913.]
Hymn for Missions.
Oh! God of Heaven, and earth and sea,
Our longing cry goes up to Thee,
That gathered in from every land
Thine own redeemed shall safely stand.
Oh! hear the prayer all nations pray,
And bring the long expected day.
May we with willing hand and heart,
Be ready all to do our part;
From every land goes forth the cry
“Oh! help us, brothers, or we die,”
Then can we hear that voice to-day
And all unheeding turn away?
Across the waters wild and drear
A pleading voice falls on our ear;
“Oh! send to us the Word of Life,
For souls are dying in the strife,”
Oh! let us heed that voice to-day.
Ere time and chance are gone for aye.
For selfish lives, and hearts of pride.
And secret sins we fain would hide,
Good Lord, we seek Thy pardon now,
And at Thy feet we humbly bow,
Our hearts would now Thy word obey
And cast our selfish pride away.
The gentle Shepherd sadly stands,
Behold His pierced Feet and Hands:
“For love of Me,” the sweet voice saith,
“Oh! save my sheep from pain and death.”
Dear Lord, our hearts would now obey,
Lest those in sorrow turn away.
Oh! God of Heaven, and earth and sea,
We bring our offerings unto Thee,
We gladly give from out our store,
And pray that we may love Thee more:
Oh! Lord Thy word we must obey,
And give Thee of Thine own to-day.
— Amen.
L. E. Homfray.
Source:
Church Life (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 16 January 1913, p. 5
Editor’s notes:
aye = always, forever
ere = before (from the Middle English “er”, itself from the Old English “aer”, meaning early or soon)
fain = happily or gladly; ready or willing; obliged or compelled
Lord = in a religious context, and capitalized, a reference to God or Jesus
saith = (archaic) says; third person singular present of “say”
Shepherd = in a religious context, and often capitalized, usually a reference to Jesus or God; the term commonly refers to Jesus, but it has also been used with regards to God, e.g. “The Lord is my shepherd”, in Psalm 23, in the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible (Psalm 22 in the Latin Vulgate Bible); the phrase “Good Shepherd” is a reference to Jesus, based upon John 10:11-15 in the New Testament of the Bible, where Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd”; the pastor, priest, reverend, or spiritual leader of a church congregation may also be referred to as a “shepherd”
thee = (archaic) you
thine = (archaic) yours; your (“thine”, meaning “your”, is usually placed before a word which begins with a vowel, e.g. “To thine own self be true”)
thy = (archaic) your
[Editor: Placed a line break before “— Amen”.]
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