Scripture Verse

Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17

Introduction

Words: Bir­die M. Still­man, in The Light­house in Gos­pel Song, ed­it­ed by John D. Pat­ton (Birm­ing­ham, Ala­ba­ma: J. D. Pat­ton, 1910), num­ber 57.

Music: James H. Stan­ley (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Still­man or Stan­ley (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Dear friends, I have a sto­ry to tell,
A sto­ry of woe, and des­pair;
My soul is doomed with de­mons to dwell—
I have wait­ed too long to pre­pare.

Refrain

I’ve wait­ed too long
(I’ve wait­ed too long),
I’ve wait­ed too long to pre­pare.
I’ve an­chored my soul to the sin cursed shore,
I’ve wait­ed too long to pre­pare.

I’ve heard the sto­ry of Christ’s love,
The ci­ty so bright and so fair;
They bade me live for Hea­ven above,
But I’ve waited too long to pre­pare.

Refrain

When friends would plead with me to come,
I turned them away with­out care;
And now thro’ mist and dark­ness I see,
I have wait­ed too long to pre­pare.

Refrain

Too long the Sav­ior’s point­ed the way,
And of­fered my bur­dens to share;
Alas, I’ve turned His kind­ness away!
Thus I’ve wait­ed too long to pre­pare.

Refrain

O sin­ner, hear this mes­sage to you,
’Tis filled with the words of des­pair;
And heed the call of warn­ing to­day—
You are wait­ing too long to pre­pare.

Refrain