Scripture Verse

The Son of man came…to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Will­iam B. Sparks, in Great Go­spel Songs, ed­it­ed by Hal­dor Lil­le­nas et al. (Kan­sas Ci­ty, Mis­sou­ri: Na­za­rene Pub­lish­ing House, 1929), num­ber 3 (🔊 pdf nwc). Some sources cre­dit this song us­ing Sparks’ mid­dle name, Burl.

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Sparks (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

I once was lost in sin’s dark night,
God’s love I spurned, I wan­dered from the right,
Rejecting Him, I know not why,
The One who for my soul did bleed and die.

Refrain

He ran­somed me, from sin He set me free;
He paid my debt on rug­ged Cal­va­ry;
He’s tak­en all my sin and guilt away,
And turned my dark­ness in­to day.

He drew me to His kind em­brace,
One look into His bless­èd, lov­ing face,
I saw the thorn prints on His brow,
Heart brok­en then, I at His feet did bow.

Refrain

I nev­er dreamed I could pos­sess
Such peace and joy as now is in my breast;
The Christ who set my poor soul free
Can save your soul and give you vic­to­ry.

Refrain