SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 5 OF 22: HE WAS NOT WILLING

Globe statue, International Learning Center (IMB, Southern Baptist), Rockville, VA

 

"He was not willing that any should perish;" 

Jesus enthroned in the glory above,

Saw our poor fallen world, pitied our sorrows, 

Poured out His life for us, wonderful love!

Perishing, perishing! Thronging our pathway, 

Hearts break with burdens too heavy to bear:

Jesus would save, but there's no one to tell them, 

No one to lift them from sin and despair.

"He was not willing that any should perish;" 

Clothed in our flesh with its sorrow and pain,

Came He to seek the lost, comfort the mourner, 

Heal the heart broken by sorrow and shame.

Perishing, perishing! Harvest is passing, 

Reapers are few and the night draweth near;

Jesus is calling thee, haste to the reaping, 

Thou shalt have souls, precious souls for thy hire.

Plenty for pleasure, but little for Jesus; 

Time for the world with its troubles and toys, 

No time for Jesus' work, feeding the hungry, 

Lifting lost souls to eternity's joys.

Perishing, perishing! Hark, how they call us; 

"Bring us your Savior, oh, tell us of Him! 

We are so weary, so heavily laden, 

And with long weeping our eyes have grown dim."

"He was not willing that any should perish;" 

Am I His follower, and can I live

Longer at ease with a soul going downward, 

Lost for the lack of the help I might give?

Perishing, perishing! Thou wast not willing; 

Master, forgive and inspire us anew;

Banish our worldliness, help us to ever 

Live with eternity's values in view.

NOTES ON THIS HYMN:

• I've only seen a few hymnals with this hymn; out of our collection, there's just one (Inspiring Hymns that has it. And only one church I've attended has sung this song. What would it be like if this somber reminder was sung more often?
• The words and music were both written by Lucy Jane (Rider) Meyer (1849-1922). The Cyber Hymnal lists the names of eight hymns she wrote. She served as a teacher (including in chemistry) and principal. She and her husband, Josiah Shelley Meyer, opened the Chicago Training School for City, Home, and Foreign Missions in 1885, where she served as principal till 1917. She also started The Message periodical in 1886 (later renamed The Deaconess Advocate) which she edited until 1914. If that's not enough, she also started the Methodist Deaconess Association in 1908.  
• One thing that amused me. When I turned to this hymn, #466 in Inspiring Hymns, I noticed the hymn on the previous page (#464): "The Star Spangled Banner."