To-Day Thy Mercy Calls Me

This is the original text of this hymn as it appears in an 1862 edition of Hymns of the Christian Life (1861) where it listed under the heading “To-day”:

To-day Thy mercy calls me,
To wash away my sin,
However great my trespass,
Whate’er I may have been.
However long from mercy
I may have turned away,
Thy blood, O Christ, can cleanse me,
And make me white to -day.

To-day Thy gate is open,
And all who enter in
Shall find a Father’s welcome,
And pardon for their sin;
The past shall be forgotten,
A present joy be given—
A future grace be promised—
A glorious crown in heaven!

To-day the Father calls me;
The Holy Spirit waits;
The blessed angels gather
Around the heavenly gates;
No question will be asked me,
How often I have come;
Although I oft have wandered,
It is my FATHER’S HOME.

O all-embracing mercy,
Thou ever open door,
What should I do without thee,
When heart and eyes run o’er?
When all things seem against me,
To drive me to despair—
I know one gate is open,
One ear will hear my prayer.

Words: Oswald Allen, 1861.
Tune (Church Hymn): “St. Anselm” Joseph Barnby, 1869.
Second Tune (Church Hymns): “Missionary” Lowell Mason, 1823.
Meter: 7.6.7.6.D.

This is the text of this hymn as it appears in Church Hymns (1871) where it is listed under General Hymns:

To-day Thy mercy calls us
To wash away our sin,
However great our trespass,
Whatever we have been;
However long from mercy
Our hearts have turned away,
Thy precious Blood can cleanse us,
And make us white to-day.

To-day Thy gate is open,
And all who enter in
Shall find a Father’s welcome,
And pardon for their sin.
The past shall be forgotten,
A present joy be given,
A future grace be promised,
A glorious crown in heaven.

To-day our Father calls us,
His Holy Spirit waits;
His blessèd Angels gather
Around the heavenly gates:
No question will be asked us
How often we have come;
Although we oft have wandered,
It is our Father’s Home!

Oh, all-embracing mercy!
Oh, ever-open door!
What should we do without Thee
When heart and eye run o’er?
When all things seem against us,
To drive us to despair,
We know one gate is open,
One Ear will hear our prayer! Amen.