Readings · Hymns
Softly and Tenderly
Will L. Thompson · 20 lines
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling.
Calling for you and for me,
See on the portals he’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.
Chorus
Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary, come home,
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, death beds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
Oh! for the wonderful love he has promised,
Promised for you and for me,
Tho’ we have sinned he has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.
About this reading
Will L. Thompson of East Liverpool, Ohio, wrote both the words and the music. His own company, Will L. Thompson and Co., published the song in 1880 in Sparkling Gems, a collection edited by J. Calvin Bushey. Thompson wrote and published gospel songs for most of his working life.
All four verses and the chorus. The copy read here is undated and titles the song "For You And For Me," and it carries the copyright date of 1880.
- First published
- 1880
- Text from
- Sparkling Gems, Nos. 1 & 2 Combined (about 1880)
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