I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.
Hosea 11:4
Words: Thomas Grinfield, A Century of Original Sacred Songs (London: 1836), number 88.
Music: Middletown (English) English tune (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good picture of Grinfield (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
O how kindly hast Thou led me,
Heav’nly Father, day by day;
Found my dwelling, clothed and fed me,
Furnished friends to cheer my way!
Didst Thou bless me, didst Thou chasten,
With Thy smile or with Thy rod,
’Twas that still my step might hasten
Homeward, heav’nward, to my God.
O how slowly have I often
Followed where Thy hand would draw!
How Thy kindness failed to soften!
How Thy chastening failed to awe!
Make me for Thy rest more ready,
As Thy path is longer trod;
Keep me in Thy friendship steady,
Till Thou call me home, my God.