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Softly and Tenderly
Hebrews 3:7,8
THOMPSON | Hymn History | Bible Passage
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Author: |  |
William L. Thompson, 1847-1909 |
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Musician: | |
William L. Thompson, 1847-1909 |
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;
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, "O sinner, come home!"
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?
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
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.
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HYMN HISTORY:
Will Thompson came out of the state of Ohio where his birthplace was East Liverpool.
His musical gifts took him eastwards to Boston and its Conservatory of Music, and two of his songs won more than local fame. But Thompson's heart was in melody's linked to Christian words, and with "Softly And Tenderly" he made a memorable contribution to the revival songs of America at a time when D. L. Moody was leading his evangelical campaigns.
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.
Moody loved this hymn-melody so much that he told Thompson as he lay dying that he would rather have written it than have done anything else.
Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary
Come home.
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner come home.
Thompson himself died in 1911 at the age of sixty-two.
BIBLE PASSAGE:
7 ¶ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
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