Scripture Verse

I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spir­it of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

Introduction

portrait
Richard Jukes
(1804–1867)

Words: Ri­chard Jukes, 1842.

Music: Dul­ci­ana James C. Em­bry (1834–1897). Har­mo­ny by John T. Lay­ton, 1897 (🔊 pdf nwc). Ap­peared in The Af­ri­can Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Hymn and Tune Book (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­sylv­ania: Af­ri­can Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Book Con­cern, 1898), num­ber 540.

If you know where to get a bet­ter pic­ture of Jukes,

portrait
James Embry (1834–1897)

Lyrics

By faith I view my Sav­ior dy­ing,
On the tree; on the tree;
To ev­ery nation He is cry­ing,
Look to Me! Look to Me!
He bids the guil­ty now draw near,
Repent, be­lieve, dis­miss their fear;
Hark! hark! what pre­cious words I hear!
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!

Did Christ, when I was sin pur­su­ing,
Pity me? Pi­ty me?
And did He snatch my soul from ru­in?
Can it be? Can it be?
O yes! He did sal­va­tion bring:
He is my pro­phet, priest and king;
And now my hap­py soul can sing,
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!

Jesus my wea­ry soul re­fresh­es;
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!
And ev­ery mo­ment Christ is pre­cious
Unto me! Un­to me!
None can des­cribe the bliss I prove,
While through this wil­der­ness I rove;
All may en­joy the Sav­ior’s love,
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!

Jesus, the migh­ty God, hath spok­en
Peace to me, peace to me;
Now all my chains of sin are brok­en—
I am free, I am free;
Soon as I in His name be­lieved,
The Holy Spir­it I re­ceived,
And Christ from death my soul re­trieved;
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!

This pre­cious truth, ye sin­ners, hear it—
Mercy’s free, mer­cy’s free!
Ye min­is­ters of God, de­clare it—
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!
Visit the hea­then’s dark ab­ode,
Proclaim to all the love of God,
And spread the glo­ri­ous news abroad—
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!

Long as I live I’ll still be cry­ing,
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!
And this shall be my theme when dy­ing,
Mercy’s free! Mer­cy’s free!
And when the vale of death I’ve passed,
When lodged above the stor­my blast,
I’ll sing, while end­less ages last,
Mercy’s free! Merc­y’s free!