Lost but Found

I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controll'd.

I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home,
I did not love my Father's voice,
I lov'd afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought his sheep;
The Father sought his child;
They follow'd me o'er vale and hill,
O'er deserts waste and wild.

They found me nigh to death,
Famish'd, and faint, and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love;
They sav'd the wandering one.

They spoke in tender love,
They rais'd my drooping head;
They gently clos'd my bleeding wounds,
My fainting soul they fed.

They wash'd my filth away,
They made me clean and fair;
They brought me to my home in peace,
The long-sought wanderer.

Jesus my Shepherd is,
'Twas he that lov'd my soul;
'Twas he that wash'd me in his blood,
'Twas he that made me whole;
'Twas he that sought the lost,
That found the wandering sheep;
'Twas he that brought me to the fold,
'Tis he that still doth keep.

I was a wandering sheep,
I would not be controll'd;
But now I love my Shepherd's voice,
I love, I love the fold.

I was a wayward child,
I once preferr'd to roam;
But now I love my Father's voice,
I love, I love his home.