"Why Stands the Woman By the Well?"

As always, if you would like this hymn notated to a different tune, I’m happy to do so upon request as long as the tune is public domain or I have written permission from the copyright holder.

Permission is given for use in congregational worship.  Please give the following credit:  "Copyright 2020 Stephen M. Fearing | www.stephenmfearing.com"

CLICK HERE for a PDF of the hymn.

Why stands the woman by the well in midday’s blazing sun
when other women gather water when the day’s begun?
She’s heard the whispers and the taunts they hurl at her in jest.
And though her plight is not her fault, they judge her without rest.

She’s had five husbands - not by choice - for reasons we don’t know.
Perhaps she struggled to conceive, then each man made her go.
But vicious rumors spread so fast, like weeds that feed on shame.
At noon she headed to the well with privacy her aim.

But by the well there was a man she did not recognize.
He spoke to her with gentle grace, with kindness in his eyes.
He showed his true divinity; she knew he was God’s son.
She left her water jar behind and shared with ev’ryone.

To Jacob’s Well she came that day to quench her heavy thirst.
Of all the folks who called him Christ, this woman was the first.
She found in him eternal life, a welcome warm and wide.
The love of God can do so much to narrow the divide!