约瑟·哈特（Joseph Hart）. Explore “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy”: song information and official sources.
Our misery in sin · Weakness and weariness
Before writing this hymn, Hart spent many years wandering from the faith. He described himself in those years as a self-indulgent backslider and an open apostate. His invitation therefore differs from others: he calls the poor and distressed, the weak and wounded, the sick and sorrowful, rather than those who are already prepared. The decisive thought in the fourth stanza is not to wait until you improve before coming. Once you consider yourself good enough, grace is no longer what you are seeking. Chinese churches particularly need to hear this: we easily understand faith as improving ourselves before meeting God. The invitation has the same tone as Matthew 11:28 and echoes the Bible's final chapter, where it says, “He who is thirsty, let him come.” (Revelation 22:17). From beginning to end, Scripture's invitation asks only that we thirst.
Evangelistic meetings and invitations to respond; teaching on freely given grace; inviting back brothers and sisters long absent from church.