As Rebels, Lord, Who Foolishly Have Wandered

There is a new hymn for us to learn this coming Sunday. It is LSB 612. Rev. Stephen Starke (the best Lutheran hymn writer alive today IMO) wrote the text, and Jeffrey Blersch (a music prof either at Seward or Mequon) wrote the tune. Both men are still living, so this is about as contemporary a hymn as anything.

The lesson of the Prodigal Son is on display in this hymn. And the lesson of the Prodigal Son is not centered on the actions of the two boys, on their thoughts, on their decisions, but on the welcome of the Father, his tears, his desires.

612 As Rebels, Lord, Who Foolishly Have Wandered

1 As rebels, Lord, who foolishly have wandered
Far from Your love—unfed, unclean, unclothed—
Dare we recall Your wealth so rashly squandered,
Dare hope to glean that bounty which we loathed?

2 Still we return, our contrite words rehearsing,
Speech, that within Your warm embrace soon dies;
All of our guilt, our shame, our pain reversing
As tears of joy and welcome fill Your eyes.

3 A feast of love for us You are preparing;
We who were lost, You give an honored place!
“Come, eat; come, drink, and be no more despairing—
Here taste again the treasures of My grace.”

Text (sts. 1–3): © 1992 Stephen P. Starke Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, number 100011977.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.