Scripture Verse

Let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again. Luke 15:24

Introduction

portrait
John Hughes (1872–1914)

Words: James G. Deck, Hymns for the Poor of the Flock 1841.

Music: Ca­lon Lân John Hughes (1872–1914) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
James G. Deck (1802–1884)

Lyrics

Abba, Fa­ther! We ap­proach Thee
In our Sav­ior’s pre­cious name;
We, Thy child­ren, here as­sem­bled,
Now Thy pro­mised bless­ing claim;
From our sins His blood hath washed us,
’Tis through Him our souls draw nigh,
And Thy Spi­rit, too, hath taught us,
Abba, Fa­ther, thus to cry.

Once as pro­di­gals we wan­dered
In our fol­ly far from Thee,
But Thy grace, o’er sin abound­ing,
Rescued us from mi­se­ry;
Thou Thy pro­di­gals hast par­doned,
Kissed us with a Fa­ther’s love,
Spread the fes­tive board, and called us,
E’er to dwell with Thee above.

Clothed in gar­ments of sal­va­tion,
At Thy ta­ble is our place,
We re­joice, and Thou re­joic­est,
In the rich­es of Thy grace;
It is meet, we hear Thee say­ing,
We should mer­ry and be glad,
I have found My once lost child­ren,
Now they live who once were dead.

Abba, Fa­ther! all adore Thee,
All re­joice in Heav’n above,
While in us they learn the won­ders
Of Thy wis­dom, grace, and love;
Soon be­fore Thy throne as­sem­bled,
All Thy child­ren shall pro­claim,
Glory, ev­er­last­ing glo­ry,
Be to God and to the Lamb!