I was a wandering sheep

(Horatius Bonar)

I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold.
I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controlled.

I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home.
I did not love the Father's Word,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child.
They followed me over vale and hill,
Over deserts waste and wild.

They found me near to death,
famished and faint and lone.
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wandering one.

Jesus is my Shepherd,
It was He that loved my soul.
It was He that washed me in His blood,
It was He that made me whole.

It was He that sought the lost,
That found the wandering sheep.
It was He that brought me to the fold,
It is He that still does keep.

I was a wandering sheep,
I would not be controlled.
But now I love my Shepherd's voice,
I love, I love the fold.

I was a wayward child,
I once preferred to roam.
But now I love my Father's voice,
I love, I love His home.