1 Return, O wanderer, return,
And seek thy Father’s face;
Those new desires which in thee burn
Were kindled by his grace.
Refrain:
O you must be a lover of the Lord,
Or you can’t go to heaven when you die!
2 Return, O wanderer, return,
He hears thy humble sigh;
He sees thy softened spirit mourn
When no one else is nigh.
3 Return, O wanderer, return,
Thy Saviour bids thee live;
Come to his cross, and grateful learn
How freely he’ll forgive.
Source: The Song Book of the Salvation Army #256
First Line: | Return, O wanderer, return And seek an injured Father's face |
Title: | Return, O Wanderer, Return |
Author: | William Bengo Collyer (1812) |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | Polish translation: See "Wędrowcze, wróć do Ojca, wróć" |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Return, O wanderer, return . W. B. Collyer. [Call to Repentance .] Appeared in the Evangelical Magazine , May 1806, and in his Hymns, &c, 1812, No. 928, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "The Backslider." It is in use in its original form; as "Return, my wandering soul, return And seek an injured," &c, in the Philadelphia Baptist Hymn & Tune Book, 1871; and as "Wanderer from God, return, return," in a few of the American collections.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)