The Ninety and Nine is a beautiful song with a great message.
The words and history of the song below are from the Cyber Hymnal.
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Words: Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868.
Music: Ira D. Sankey, Sacred Songs and Solos.
Sankey spotted these words in a British newspaper while on an evangelism tour in Scotland with Dwight Moody. He tore the poem from the paper, put it in his pocket, and forgot about it. Later that day, at the end of their service in Edinburgh, Moody asked Sankey for a closing song. Ira was caught by surprise, but the Holy Spirit reminded him of the poem in his pocket. He brought it out, said a prayer, then composed the tune as he sang. Thus was born “The Ninety and Nine.” This was Sankey’s first attempt at writing a hymn tune. Not bad for a first try!
Many years ago there lived at Northfield [Massachusetts] an infidel; and one day, while all the neighbors had gone to the meeting at the church, he sat at home alone feeling dissatisfied with himself and all the world in general. But he heard Mr. Sankey singing “The Ninety and Nine”; and there was something in the hymn that he could not escape. The melody rang in his ears, and the thought of the lost sheep troubled him that night, and the next, and the following day until the evening, when he could stand it no longer. He went to the meeting and returned a saved man.
A few years later he was taken ill. One day he said to his wife, “Raise the window; I hear ‘The Ninety and Nine.’” Then he listened attentively until the last notes of the hymn had died out; and turning from the window he said, “I am dying; but it is all right, for I am ready. I shall never hear ‘The Ninety and Nine’ again on earth, but I am glad that I have heard it once more today.”
Crosby, p. 323
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.
“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”
And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”
I was reminded by a story I read yesterday how much our servicemen need our support and prayers, so today’s links give information on how we can support our troups. I usually check out any groups before donating to them by going to 
