Scripture Verse

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

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Be­ver­ly F. Car­ra­dine, in The Re­vi­val No. 3, by Charles D. Till­man (At­lan­ta, Geor­gia: Char­lie Till­man Song Book Com­pa­ny, 1899) (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Beverly F. Carradine (1848–1931)

Lyrics

I had wan­dered off from Hea­ven,
On the mount­ains cold and gray,
When I heard my Sav­ior call­ing,
To His lost sheep far away;
How I list­ened as the tear drops
Coursed adown like fall­ing rain,
While His ten­der words of pro­mise,
Made my spir­it glad again.

Refrain

Come, oh, come to Me, said Je­sus,
Come and I will give you rest,
I will take away the bur­den
From the hea­vy la­den breast.
No mat­ter who the wand’rer,
Nor how far he’s gone as­tray,
Behold, who­so­ev­er com­eth,
I will com­fort him to­day.

I was work­ing in the tem­ple
With the Sav­ior by my side,
Where the mul­ti­tude as­sem­bled,
In its mi­se­ry and pride;
Glancing up­ward from my la­bor
I just caught His dis­tant smile,
You have placed your work be­tween us,
Come and talk with Me awhile.

Refrain

Many ear­ly friends had left me,
While the va­cant room and chair,
Were re­mind­ers of the pric­es
I had paid down to be there;
I was brood­ing o’er my loss­es
When the Sav­ior spoke to me,
You have let your sor­rows set­tle,
Like a cloud ’tween Me and thee.

Refrain

Then I saw at once that Je­sus
Could be bet­ter far than all;
He could light­en up the path­way,
Could sur­round me like a wall;
He could take the place of loved ones,
Wipe the fall­ing tears away,
Turn my sor­rows into laugh­ter,
Change the night-tide in­to day.

Refrain

So I heard the Sav­ior call­ing,
Come thou wea­ry one away,
And my an­swer quick­ly fol­lowed,
Lord, I’m com­ing home to­day;
Now His lov­ing arms are round me,
And my head is on His breast,
While I catch His faint­est whis­per,
And my spir­it is at rest.

Refrain