Who would mourn, and pine, and languish

1 Who would mourn, and pine, and languish,
Sigh and weep through all his days;
Spend long years of fruitless anguish,
Threading sin's entangling maze;
When there is a clue to guide him
Onward to the heav'nly land;
When there is a friend beside him,
Holding out a leading hand?

2 Who would be an exile longer,
In a foreign land to roam;
Starve with cold, and thirst, and hunger,
Far from friends, and far from home;
When a Father's feast is waiting--
All his house with plenty stored--
When a Father's voice entreating,
Bids him to his ample board?

3 Who would choose to die for ever--
Die a never ending death;
Driven far from God his Saviour,
To the gloomy shades beneath;
When eternal life is proffer'd,
By the sinner's glorious friend,
When the joys of heaven are offer'd--
Boundless joys that never end?

Source: The Minstrel of Zion: a book of religious songs, accompanied with appropriate music, chiefly original #40