When Christ, the Son of God, came down
Upon this earth to dwell,
He went about and did folks good,—
He healed and made them well.
As to Jerusalem He went,
It came to pass one day,
That in a certain town He met
Ten lepers on the way.
"O Jesus, Master, mercy have,"
With voices loud they cried;
And none who come to Jesus thus
Will ever be denied.
"It came to pass that they were cleansed,"
For Jesus heard their call
And had compassion on their plight,—
He spoke and healed them all.
We'd think all ten would shout His praise,
But Scripture says just one
Turned back to render thanks to God
For all that He had done.
And Jesus asked, "Where are the nine?"
It must have grieved his heart
That they should so ungrateful be
And carelessly depart.
"Where are the nine?" How sad the words!
What pathos in His voice!
They came not back to praise the Lord
And make His heart rejoice.
And yet our blessed Master,
In His loving gracious way,
Would not a word of censure
Nor of criticism say.
But later on, the Word records,
Our Lord was crucified—
For sinners just like you and me
Our blessed Savior died.
His Word infallible declares
We're lepers vile within —
A righteous, holy God requires
A sacrifice for sin.
But Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
For sinners had such love,
He said, "I will lay down My life
To bear them safe above."
It cost the Father all He had —
He gave His only Son —
And Jesus paid our penalty, —
The work has all been done.
And how much more He's done for us '
Than for those lepers ten!
He shed His blood and gave His life
That we might live again
Have we turned back to give Him thanks
And satisfy His heart,
Or must He class us with the nine
Who carelessly depart?
On that last night He spent on earth
He gave unto His own
Those precious emblems of His death,
In which such love was shown.
He took the loaf and broke it, —
The cup He gave them then
And said, "This do, remember Me"
Until I come again.
Do we comply with this request
And gather round that One,
Unto the Father giving thanks,
And praises to the Son?
O precious Savior, with Thyself
So fill each mind and heart
That we shall e'er remember Thee,
And ne'er from Thee depart..,
Till this same Jesus comes again
May we the "little while"
Just thankfully remember Him
And win the Father's smile.
And may we ever grateful be
For all His love divine
And not be classed with those of whom
He said, "Where are the nine?"