I cannot tell

I had chosen this for my changing of membership service, several weeks before
Rich died.  We sung it the Sunday I went back to church.  Verse 2 crippled several
of us.  He had been dead 9 days by then.

I cannot tell why He, whom angels worship
Should set His love upon the sons of men
Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers
To bring them back, they know not how or when
But this I know, that He was born of Mary
When Bethlehem's manger was His only home
And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured
And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is come


I cannot tell how silently He suffered
As with His peace He graced this place of tears
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken
The crown of pain to three-and-thirty years
But this I know, He heals the broken-hearted
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear
And lifts the burden from the heavy-laden
For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here


I cannot tell how He will win the nations
How He will claim His earthly heritage
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of east and west, of sinner and of sage
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendour
When He the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship
When, at his bidding, every storm is stilled
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture
And myriad, myriad human voices sing
And earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, will answer
'At last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King!'