[Music]
Afflictions, tho' they seem severe, Are oft in mercy sent;
They stopt the prodigal's career And caused him to repent,
Altho' he no relenting felt Till he had spent his store;
His stubborn heart began to melt When famine pinch'd him sore.
What have I gain'd by sin, he said, but hunger, shame and fear;
My father's house abounds with bread, while I am starving here.
I'll go and tell him all I've done, fall down before his face;
Unworthy to be called his son, I'll seek a servant's place.
The father saw him coming back, he looked, he ran, he smiled;
He throws his arms around the neck of his rebellious child.
Father, I've sinned, but O forgive; enough, the father said.
Rejoice, my house, my son's alive for whom I mourn'd as dead.
Now let the fatted calf be slain, go spread the news around;
My son was dead, but lives again, was lost but now is found.
'Tis thus the Lord his love reveals, to call poor sinners home.
More than a father's love he feels and welcomes all that come.
Davisson, the compiler of the SKH, claimed this tune. It functioned as
the melodic material out of which the "fuguing" tune 'Alabama', in the
_Sacred Harp_, was built.
No. 50
HAPPY SOULS (A), OL 145