Was there ever kindest shepherd

Half so gentle, half so sweet,

As the Saviour, who would have us

Come and gather round His feet?

Souls of men, why will ye scatter

Like a crowd of frightened sheep?

Foolish hearts, why will ye wander

From a love so true and deep?

There is wideness in God’s mercy

Like the wideness of the sea;

There is kindness in His justice

Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows

Are more felt than up in heaven,

There is no place where earth’s failings

Have such kindly-judgment given.

There is welcome for the sinner,

And more graces for the good;

There is mercy with the Saviour;

There is healing in His blood.

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed;

There is joy for all the members

in the sorrows of the Head.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measures of man’s mind,

And the heart of the Eternal

is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,

We should take Him at His word,

And our lives would be all sunshine

In the sweetness of our Lord.