Verse 1
When will the pardning God appear
A poor, desponding soul to chear,
Who once rejoic’d to prove
His people’s rest, his saints’ delight,
And fed on Jesus day and night,
And gloried in his love?

Verse 2
His love was once my daily bread,
His love refresh’d me on my bed,
And bless’d my every dream:
In Him my whole of bliss I sought,
In every work, and word, and thought
I only lived for Him.

Verse 3
Where’er I turn’d my willing feet,
The tokens of his grace I met,
And blessings without end:
In every field, in every grove
I found the Object of my love,
And talk’d with God my Friend.

Verse 4
Witness, ye echoing hills and dales,
Ye conscious streams and secret vales,
When I my Saviour found,
How have I shouted forth his praise,
How have I fell before his face,
And kiss’d the sacred ground!

Verse 5
I heard his voice among the trees,
The ghastly uncouth wilderness
At Jesus Presence smiled:
I saw the new creation rise,
And lo, a beauteous paradise
Was open’d in the wild!

Verse 6
But I have lost my bower again,
An outcast wretch, a banish’d man
From Jesus presence driven,
Pain’d with the sense of what I was,
I mourn the life-imbittering loss,
I wander unforgiven.

Verse 7
O woud my God return at last,
When all my penal woes are past,
To save me as by fire
O might I, Lord, thy love retrieve,
And happy in thy favor live
One moment, and expire!