I HEARD the Saviour say to me,
Ere yet mine eyes had power to see,
“Arise! thy faith hath saved thee.”
The faith he saw I could not find,
I only knew that he was kind,
And that I had been always blind.
Yet, by the pity in his voice,
I knew to bless me was his choice,
His mercy taught me to rejoice.
And when they said, “He calleth thee,”
My heart began his heart to see;
I rose, his worshipper to be.
Then burst there forth the light of day,
My heavy robe I cast away,
I followed Jesus in the way.
The beauties of an eastern land
Glowed rich and bright, on either hand:
Such new delight could I withstand?
The places where my Lord had been,
Was I to leave them all unseen,
Mine eyes now opened on the scene?
Two words he uttered, “Follow me,”
Sufficed to show me what to see:
“Where I am, shall my servant be.”
Whereas I know that I was blind,
Around I look not, nor behind;
In “Jesus only” all I find.
Jan. 15th 1868.