1
Christ delivered me when bound,
And when bleeding, healed my wound;
Sought me wand'ring, set me right,
Turned my darkness into light.
And when bleeding, healed my wound;
Sought me wand'ring, set me right,
Turned my darkness into light.
2
Can a woman's tender care
Cease towards the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be;
Yet will He remember me.
Cease towards the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be;
Yet will He remember me.
3
His is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above;
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.
Higher than the heights above;
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.
4
I shall see His glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of His throne shall be;
Such is His great love for me!
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of His throne shall be;
Such is His great love for me!
5
Lord, it is my chief complaint
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love Thee, and adore:
Oh for grace to love Thee more.
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love Thee, and adore:
Oh for grace to love Thee more.
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Mansfield, Ohio, United States
I love the author’s complaint in verse five.
Detroit, Michigan, United States
William Cowper wrote these beautiful words after he had gone through a time of severe depression and was comforted through words of Jesus in Scripture.
Cowper was born in his father's rectory at Berkhamstead. His mother died when he was a frail child. His father was disappointed in this sickly lad, so he sent him off to boarding school to be rid of him. There Cowper was intimidated and beaten by other boys. The teachers also did their share of beating him. At the age of 18 William was ready to go up to London to prepare for a law career. Reading law, his mind broke. His friends put him in a private asylum, which was a great kindness. There he met a caretaker, a private nurse or doctor, who ministered to his patients spiritually and physically. Many needed physical and mental healing, but all needed spiritual healing far more. A man or woman, who is mentally alert and of sound health spiritually, can stand much physical suffering.
Night after night Cowper put his head under his covers and wailed, "My sin, oh, my sin. Would God here were a fountain where I could cleanse them." Faithful Mr. Cotton assured him that Jesus died for his sins, and that indeed there is a fountain opened in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness. (Zech 13:1). Young Cowper felt that though God had saved others, William Cowper was forsaken of God and man. The prayers of saintly Mr. Cotton did comfort him many nights. Then, one day as Cowper read his New Testament, these words in Romans 3 were God's message to his soul: "Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has sent forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to manifest His righteousness." "Immediately the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement which He had made, my pardon in His blood, and a full and complete salvation."
When Cowper died, his nephew said that he seemed troubled some time before, then a beautiful smile lighted his face as from the Sun of Righteousness Himself. He exclaimed, "O, I am not shut out of heaven after all! Hallelujah, what a thought. What a Savior!" - Hymn Stories by Wilbur Konkel
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Cowper wrote this hymn mostly in the first person, as though Jesus is speaking to the singer and listener. There is an additional stanza before stanza 1 above which introduces the speaking:
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1a. Hark, my soul, it is the Lord!
’Tis thy Savior, hear His Word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,
"Say, poor, sinner, lovest thou Me?"
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1.“I delivered thee when bound,
And, when bleeding, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wandering, set thee right,
Turned thy darkness into light.
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2. “Can a woman’s tender care
Cease toward the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.
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3. “Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.
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4. "Thou shalt see My glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of My throne shalt be:
Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me?"
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5. same as last stanza above