Rescue The Perishing
by Fanny J. Crosby“Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save.“Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying
Snatch them in pity
From sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one.
Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus,
The mighty to save.“Tho’ they are slighting Him,
Still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent
Child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly,
Plead with them gently,
He will forgive,
If they only believe.Down in the human heart,
Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried
That grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart,
Wakened by kindness,
Chords that are broken,
Will vibrate once more.Rescue the perishing,
Duty demands it,
Strength for thy labor
The Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way
Patiently win them,
Tell the poor wan-d’rer
A Savior has died.Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save.
Fanny Crosby wrote this hymn in 1869 after speaking to a group of laborers in Cincinnati. Before closing she felt a very strong sense that “some mother’s boy” in that meeting “must be rescued that night or not at all.” She asked the group if there was someone there who had wandered from his mother’s teachings. After the service a young man came to her. He told her he had promised his mother he’d meet her in heaven but he didn’t think it was possible now because of how he’d been living. Fanny led him to Christ then & there.
After returning to her room the theme “rescue the perishing” rolled continuously through her mind. Before going to bed that night she wrote the entire hymn!
At a meeting in Massachusetts many years later she shared the story of how she came to write “Rescue the Perishing”. Following the service a mature man came to her. And with a shaky voice he told her, “Miss Crosby, I was that boy who told you more than thirty-five years ago that I had wandered from my mother’s God. That evening you spoke, I sought and found peace, and I have tried to live a consistent Christian life ever since. If we never meet again on earth, we will meet up yonder.” [Source of quotes: "Then Sings My Soul, 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories", p. 174, by Robert J. Morgan.]
THOUGHTS:
You know, Miss Crosby was where she was supposed to be at the time she was supposed to be there. Not only had she followed the Holy Spirit’s leading to be when and where she should but obeyed the urging of the Spirit to make that invitation. That’s what we are all called to do. Follow God’s leading and obey the urging of the Holy Spirit. Pretty simple isn’t it?
VERSE:
“And of some have compassion, making a difference; And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;…” Jude 22-23, KJV
PRAYER:
Lord, I want to be obedient to your leading and sensitive to your promptings. All around us are people desperately in need of You– people who are on their way to an eternity in hell. Some of them are people in our own families. Oh God, give me a real burden for souls that I can never again walk past a dying person without seeing him and introducing him to Jesus. Amen.
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