[Music]
I'm thinking today of the church of my youth,
Where first I rejoic'd at the sound of the truth,
Where oft I assembled with those that I love,
And join'd them in praising our Father above.
Ah! well I remember, when youthful and gay,
In mirthfulness sporting while time sped away,
With my parents went to the house of the Lord,
And wonder'd what made them rejoice in His word.
But when my dear Savior, so precious to me,
My blind eyes did open, my sins all to see,
With fearfulness, trembling, too great to express,
I went to that house fill'd with woe and distress.
When Jesus, my blessed Redeemer and Friend,
Reveal'd that He was the Beginning and End,
I long'd for the season of worship once more,
That I might join His saints, His dear name adore.
And when in that dear place of worship and praise,
My voice with His saints I endeavor'd to raise,
My heart fill'd with love and my hope bright and clear,
I thought surely trouble could no more appear.
When deeply impress'd with a sense of His love,
When this world could no more a resting place prove,
I went with a feeling I could not control,
And told what my Savior had done for my soul.
With loving caresses they welcomed me home,
And bade me no longer in darkness to roam;
The great joy of that hour I never can tell,
When I with such friends was permitted to dwell.
Though now sunder'd far from that blessed abode,
I feel, that I'm still with the children of God.
Dear brethren, I love you in deed and in truth,
Yet my heart oft goes to the church of my youth.
Ah! well I remember their kindness to me,
In my memory now their kind deeds I can see;
Wherever my lot is to publish the truth,
I'll never forget the church of my youth.
The oldest occurrence of the text seems to be in the _Hesperian Harp_,
1848. This song is a parody (words and music) of 'In the Days of My
Youth', _Beggars Opera_, No. 42; Act 3, Scene 1. The tune there was
that sung earlier to 'A Shepherd Kept Sheep'.
No. 46
REDEMPTION (B), OSH 501