Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Words: Nathaniel Norton, in Gospel Hymns No. 5, edited by Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan & George Stebbins (New York; Cincinnati, Ohio & Chicago, Illinois: John Church and Biglow & Main, 1887), number 88.
Music: George C. Stebbins (🔊 pdf nwc).
A man of culture and of extensive reading had given a good deal of thought to the subject of Christianity, but had never acknowledged himself a Christian until one evening at the close of an after-meeting in services conducted by Dr. George F. Pentecost in his own church in Brooklyn. Then he arose and made a public confession of Christ as His Saviour.
That night, on return home, he sat down and wrote the words of this hymn. The next day they were handed to Mr. Stebbins, who was then assisting Dr. Pentecost. Very soon afterward the hymn was sung in the meetings that were still in progress. It was at once met with general favor, and for many years it was used as a special song of invitation in our meetings, as well as by other evangelists in theirs.
Sankey, pp. 146–47
Come unto Me,
it is the Savior’s voice,
The Lord of life, who bids thy heart rejoice;
O weary heart, with heavy cares oppressed,
Come unto Me,
and I will give you rest.
Refrain
Come unto Me, come unto Me,
Come unto Me, and I will give you rest,
I will give you rest, I will give you rest.
Weary with life’s long struggle full of pain,
O doubting soul, thy Savior calls again;
Thy doubts shall vanish and thy sorrows cease,
Come unto Me,
and I will give you peace.
Refrain
Oh, dying man, with guilt and sin dismayed,
With conscience wakened, of thy God afraid;
Twixt hopes and fears—oh end the anxious strife,
Come unto Me,
and I will give you life.
Refrain
Rest, peace and life, the flowers of deathless bloom,
The Savior gives us, not beyond the tomb—
But here, and now, on earth, some glimpse is giv’n
Of joys which wait us thro’ the gates of Heav’n.
Refrain
