Bands of Love

A homeless Stranger amongst us came

To this land of death and mourning;

He walked in a path of sorrow and shame,

Through insult, and hate, and scorning.

A Man of sorrows, of toil and tears,

An outcast Man and a lonely;

But He looked on me, and through endless years

Him must I love—Him only.

Then from this sad and sorrowful land,

From this land of tears He departed;

But the light of His eyes and the touch of His hand

Had left me broken-hearted.

And I clave to Him as He turned His face

From the land that was mine no longer—

The land I had loved in the ancient days,

Ere I knew the love that was stronger.

And I would abide where He abode,

And follow His steps for ever;

His people my people, His God my God,

In the land beyond the river.

And where He died would I also die,

Far dearer a grave beside Him

Than a kingly place amongst living men,

The place which they denied Him.

Then afar and afar did I follow Him on,

To the land where He was going—

To the depths of glory beyond the sun,

Where the golden fields were glowing—

The golden harvest of endless joy,

The joy He had sown in weeping;

How can I tell the blest employ,

The songs of that glorious reaping!

The recompense sweet, the full reward,

Which the lord His God has given;

At rest beneath the wings of the Lord,

At home in the courts of heaven.