Often had I heard the sto­ry
Thou didst die for me;
Thou didst leave Thy throne in glo­ry,
That I might love Thee:
But with sense and sight per­vert­ed
By the sub­tle power of sin,
And with thoughts from God di­vert­ed,
All was dark with­in.
Thou didst call me to Thy glo­ry,
Thou didst die for me;
But my heart re­pelled the sto­ry,
Shut the door to Thee.

Speak to me, O Ho­ly Spi­rit;
Show my mi­se­ry;
Show me my Re­deem­er’s merit,
As my on­ly plea.
Fill my spirit with Thy shin­ing,
Bid Thy fruits in me in­crease,
Give in place of past re­pin­ing,
Love and joy and peace.
Thou didst call me to Thy glo­ry,
Thou didst die for me;
Now my heart ac­cepts the sto­ry,
Yields it­self to Thee.

Let me live, O lov­ing Je­sus,
Witnessing Thy pow­er;
Let me hear Thy sweet I love you,
Whispered ev­ery hour.
Make me deep­er in my yearn­ing,
For the world to know Thy grace,
For the joy of Thy re­turn­ing,
For Thy glo­ri­ous face.
Thou didst call me to Thy glo­ry,
Thou didst die for me;
Quickly come; com­plete the sto­ry;
Take me up to Thee.