Scripture Verse

Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Luke 15:21–22

Introduction

portrait
Richard W. Adams
1952–

Words: Ri­chard W. Ad­ams, 2001.

Music: Af­ton Jon­a­than E. Spil­man, writ­ten at the Tran­syl­van­ia Law School, Lex­ing­ton, Ken­tuc­ky, 1837. Ar­ranged by Ri­chard W. Ad­ams, 2001 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Spil­man (head-and-shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), would you ?

illustration
The Prodigal Son
Gerrit van Honthorst
1590–1656

Lyrics

O great God of nations, revive us, we pray,
Raise prodigal hearts to contrition today;
In pride have we turned from Your life giving Word,
Embracing the darkness while truth goes unheard.
Create deep within us a clean heart today,
Renew a right spirit, and teach us to say:
Awaken, my soul, and send anthems above,
To Him who is yearning to bless you in love.

Forsake not Your people though far we do roam,
As hedonists, spendthrifts, abandoning home;
But finally, throwing our folly aside,
We see You are waiting with arms open wide.
We plead Your forgiveness, our Father, we pray,
O heal prideful blindness and teach us to say:
How mighty the love that can conquer our sin,
And open the door to the banquet within.

In faith and in gratitude, then, must we share
The good news of Jesus with lands everywhere,
With peoples still groping and stumbling in night;
For them You command us to send out the light.
To shout from the rooftops, proclaim o’er the wave,
That Christ has redeemed from the depths of the grave:
Pour out, then, Your Spirit, afresh in this hour,
Enable our tongues to speak out with Your power.