by Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889
Horatius Bonar, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, was the writer of a great many hymns that are widely used. In his hymn, "I Was a Wandering Sheep," he has told the story of salvation in simple terms that a child can understand.
During some special meetings held in a girls' school in Massachusetts, many of the girls showed utter indifference to the claims of Christ. Among those who scoffed at the meetings and their results was Helen Brown. Her Christian friends in the school sought to interest her in attending the prayer meetings, but she refused. She thus became their special object for prayer.
One evening the little band were amazed to see Helen enter the prayer room with eyes downcast and face very pale. After a few hymns and prayers, each girl quoted some favorite hymn verses. When Helen's turn came there was a silence. Then she began:
"I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold.”
Her voice was low but distinct; and every word, as she uttered it, thrilled the hearts of the listeners. She repeated one stanza after another of that beautiful hymn of Bonar's, and not an eye, save her own, was dry as with sweet emphasis she pronounced the last lines:
"No more a wayward child,
I seek no more to roam.”
That single hymn told all. The wandering sheep, the wayward child, had returned.
"I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold,
I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controlled:
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home,
I did not love my Father's voice,
I loved afar to roam.
The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
They followed me o'er vale and hill,
O'er deserts waste and wild:
They found me nigh to death,
Famished, and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wandering one.
Jesus my Shepherd is,
'Twas He that loved my soul;
'Twas He that washed me in His blood,
'Twas He that made me whole:
'Twas He that sought the lost,
That found the wand'ring sheep;
'Twas He that brought me to the fold,
'Tis He that still doth keep.
I was a wand'ring sheep,
I would not be controlled;
But now I love my Savior's voice,
I love, I love the fold.
No more a wayward child,
I seek no more to roam,
I love, I love my Father's voice,
I love, I love, His home.”