Rescue the Perishing

“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.

Chorus
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though 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 were 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 wanderer a Savior has died.”

When I first read the lyrics to this hymn, it almost sounds as if the author is commanding the reader to save souls.  The song is not a prayer to the Lord to do these things, but a request of the Christian to get involved.  However, based upon the history of this particular hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, and the more than 8,000 hymns she wrote in her life, I don’t think she had a misunderstanding of where true salvation comes.  I do think, however, this hymn is a challenging word to all of us to do more than we are doing to help save the lost.  My sense is that she is pleading with Christians to do the things that Christ did while on this earth to draw men to Him.  Things like “care for the dying”, “weep over the erring one,” and “plead with them earnestly.”  If we truly believe that people are lost and we truly believe that hell is a real place for those that don’t know Christ, it should impact how we reach out to others and the urgency that we should have to do the things to show the love of God. 

I also like the phrase in the second verse about reaching out to them even though they are “slighting him.”  If you are like me, it can be easy to “write someone off” if a person has been around Christianity all their life, and has chosen not to follow Christ.  We can say things like “they should know better” or “the Church doors are always open,” but is that really the right attitude we should have?  The “Parable of the Unmerciful Servant” in Matthew 20 gives us some real insight as to what the right and wrong attitudes are regarding God showing mercy.  God has been so merciful to us, but are we more like the servants that grumbled because the people that worked only one hour received the same reward as those who worked all day?  There’s a great question in Matthew 20:15 where the owner of the vineyard says “Are you envious because I am generous?”  Do we get mad because God is long-suffering with certain people?  We shouldn’t.  Although difficult at times, we should not grow weary in well-doing, even to those who may be “slighting him.”

Finally, in the third verse, the author reminds us that there are some people whose hearts have been “crushed by the tempter.”  Sometimes, these people are in difficult situations because of their own bad decisions – they are reaping what they have sown.  There are others are in bad situations because they may be reaping what someone else has sown.   These people are waiting for a kind word or a gracious act that can stir those “heart strings” and make them receptive to hear the gospel.  In James 2, the Bible says “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”  This is a powerful reminder that our faith should go hand in hand with our deeds, and God can, and will, use us as we do the things that He has commanded.