My Wandering Child

I open the book of my life today,
And turning its pages o’er,
In mem’ry’s mirror my jewels I see,
At play by the open door.
And one has ringlets of golden hair,
Her eyes are the deepest blue,
The pride and the joy of her mother’s heart,
As pure as the morning dew.

Chorus:
O where is my daughter; my child today?
All dark with her sin and its stain;
I still love my child, and Jesus will
Forgive her and love her again.

So quickly their childhood years go by,
It seems but a summer day;
Each ev’ning kneeling beside their be,
I teach their young hearts to pray:
“Our Father in heav’n, we hallow Thy name,”
Their pratting tongues repeat;
Oh, God, we pray Thee, in life’s best way,
Help me to guide their feet.

But oh, in my heart are arrows today,
The bitt’rest arrows of woe;
The tempter has come, my darling has gone,
My darling once pure as snow.
He lured her away in the paths of sin,
Her soul on its husks he feeds;
The pleasures he offers can not last,
For downward to death he leads.

Oh, who will go look for my child today?
Who’ll tell her a Savior’s love?
The story so tender will reach her heart,
Of Jesus who pleads above;
Her mother is praying as in years gone by
For the wand’ring one astray,
The child that has knelt at her mother’s knee
Is only deceived today.

Go out in the highways of sin and shame!
Go search for my child today!
My daughter once pure a jewel fair,
Go teach her the better way.
My sad aching heart will weep for joy,
Tho’ lonely the path has been,
If only thro’ Jesus, our Savior, Friend,
I meet her at home in heave’n.


Source: Twentieth (20th) Century Songs Part One #69

• MIDI file from Twentieth (20th) Century Songs Part One #69