See the tender Shepherd treading,
O’er the rough and thorny way,
Down into the awful chasm,
Where the wandering sheep doth lay.
Thorns and stones His path do cover,
Wounding Him at every step;
But the Shepherd’s heart is yearning
O’er His naughty, erring sheep.
Though deep sorrows weigh His spirit,
Yet His heart with love abounds;
Love which cannot be contented,
Till its object it has found.
Onward in His course He presses,
Over mountains steep and drear —
Then a feeble cry of anguish
Falls upon His list’ning ear.
Now behold His glad rejoicing,
“I have found my long-lost sheep;”
On His shoulder strong He bears it,
And the Shepherd’s joy’s complete.
Oh, what love it was that brought Him
Down from heaven’s eternal bliss;
Shame and death for us to suffer!
Was there ever love like this?
Each to his own way has turned,
We like sheep from Him have stray’d;
But the Lord upon that Shepherd
Our iniquity has laid.
Nails His hands and feet have pierced,
Wounded, too, His holy side:
Tell me, reader, do you know Him,
He who thus for you has died?
ML 08/05/1917