Scripture Verse

His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. Luke 1:50

Introduction

portrait
Frederick Faber
(1814–1863)

Words: Fred­er­ick W. Fa­ber, Ora­to­ry Hymns 1854. For an­oth­er ar­range­ment, see Souls of Men, Why Will Ye Scat­ter.

Music: Well­es­ley Liz­zie Tour­jée, 1878 (🔊 pdf nwc). She wrote this tune for her high school gra­du­ation song in New­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts. The name comes from near­by Well­es­ley wo­men’s col­lege, which she lat­er at­tend­ed brief­ly.

Alternate Tunes:

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

Lyrics

There’s a wide­ness in God’s mer­cy,
Like the wide­ness of the sea;
There’s a kind­ness in His jus­tice,
Which is more than li­ber­ty.

There is no place where earth’s sor­rows
Are more felt than up in Hea­ven;
There is no place where earth’s fail­ings
Have such kind­ly judg­ment giv­en.

There is wel­come for the sin­ner,
And more grac­es for the good;
There is mer­cy with the Sav­ior;
There is heal­ing in His blood.

There is grace enough for thou­sands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh cre­ations
In that up­per home of bliss.

For the love of God is broad­er
Than the mea­sure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eter­nal
Is most won­der­ful­ly kind.

There is plen­ti­ful re­demp­tion
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the mem­bers
In the sor­rows of the Head.

’Tis not all we owe to Je­sus;
It is some­thing more than all;
Greater good be­cause of ev­il,
Larger mer­cy through the fall.

If our love were but more sim­ple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sun­shine
In the sweet­ness of our Lord.

Souls of men! why will ye scat­ter
Like a crowd of fright­ened sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wan­der
From a love so true and deep?

It is God: His love looks migh­ty,
But is migh­ti­er than it seems;
’Tis our Fa­ther: and His fond­ness
Goes far out be­yond our dreams.

But we make His love too nar­row
By false lim­its of our own;
And we mag­ni­fy His strict­ness
With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ev­er kind­er shep­herd
Half so gen­tle, half so sweet,
As the Sav­ior who would have us
Come and ga­ther at His feet?