Scripture Verse

Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Introduction

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Daniel Whittle (1840–1901)

Words: Dan­iel W. Whit­tle, in Gos­pel Hymns No. 4, by Ira D. San­key et al. (New York: Big­low & Main, 1881).

Music: James Mc­Gra­na­han (🔊 pdf nwc).

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James McGranahan
(1840–1907)
Wikipedia

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Anecdote

On a cold night in the fall of 1885, a scan­ti­ly clad man wan­dered in­to Bleeck­er Street, writes a New York ev­an­gel­ist un­der whose per­so­nal ob­ser­va­tion the in­ci­dent came.

“He was foot­sore and wea­ry with much wan­der­ing, worn out for want of sleep, and faint from lack of food. The long, cold night was be­fore him, and he knew he must walk the street unt­il morn­ing. He stepped in­to a door­way for a lit­tle rest. As he sat there he fell to pon­der­ing.

“He was so­li­ta­ry and sad-heart­ed. Drink had wrought fear­ful ha­voc with him, and had left him a home­less, friend­less man. Home and loved ones, friends, mon­ey and po­si­tion had all been sac­ri­ficed to this ap­pe­tite.

“He felt that he was lost, and that no ef­fort could save him. As he thus mused his rev­er­ie was brok­en by the sound of song.

“Surprised, he looked up in the di­rect­ion from which the sound came, and saw across the way an il­lum­in­at­ed sign on which were the words, ‘Flo­rence Mis­sion.’

“Glad to get away from the chill and gloom of the street, he went in­to the mis­sion. As he en­tered a la­dy was sing­ing [this hymn.]

“If there was one thing on earth that the man need­ed it was rest. Rest for the tired, fam­ished body; rest for the tor­tured heart. ‘These things are not for me,’ he thought, ‘I am too far gone.’

He wan­dered the cold streets un­til morn­ing, but ne­ver once did the words of this hymn leave him. The re­frain con­stant­ly rang in his ears, Come un­to Me and rest. He vis­it­ed the mis­sion ma­ny nights, and fin­al­ly gave his heart to God.

The ev­an­gel­ist adds that this man has been his as­sist­ant for ma­ny years, and has won hun­dreds to Christ.

Sankey, pp. 147–482

Lyrics

Brother, art thou worn and wea­ry,
Tempted, tried, and sore op­pressed?
Listen to the word of Je­sus,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Refrain

Come un­to Me, and rest!
Come un­to Me, and rest!
Come, ye wea­ry, hea­vy la­den,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Oh, He knows the dark fore­bod­ings
Of the con­science trou­bled breast,
And to such His word is giv­en,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Refrain

To the Lord bring all your bur­den,
Put the pro­mise to the test;
Hear Him say, your Bur­den Bear­er,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Refrain

If in sor­row thou art weep­ing,
Grieving for the loved ones missed,
Surely then to you He whis­pers,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Refrain

Trust to Him for all thy fu­ture,
He will give thee what is best;
Why then fear when He is say­ing,
Come un­to Me, and rest!

Refrain