 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
445
XCI. THE SAME.
Hymn 4.
[O what an evil heart have I]
O what an evil heart have I,
So cold, and hard, and blind,
With sin so ready to comply,
And cast my God behind!
So cold, and hard, and blind,
With sin so ready to comply,
And cast my God behind!
So apt His mercy to forget,
So soon dissolved in ease,
So false, so full of all deceit,
And desperate wickedness!
So soon dissolved in ease,
So false, so full of all deceit,
And desperate wickedness!
Long have I murmur'd to be clean
From all iniquity,
But knew not that I loved my sin,
And would not be set free.
From all iniquity,
But knew not that I loved my sin,
And would not be set free.
Oft when the pleasing ill drew nigh,
And God foreshow'd my fall,
I would not from temptation fly,
Or heed the Spirit's call.
And God foreshow'd my fall,
I would not from temptation fly,
Or heed the Spirit's call.
His warning voice I would not mind,
But turn'd mine ear away,
And lingering stood, till sin should find
And seize its willing prey.
But turn'd mine ear away,
And lingering stood, till sin should find
And seize its willing prey.
Oft have I ask'd for help, afraid
Lest God my voice should hear,
While with deceitful lips I said
The' abominable prayer.
Lest God my voice should hear,
While with deceitful lips I said
The' abominable prayer.
Oft, when He would not let me yield,
But stopp'd me by His grace,
I raged from sin to be withheld,
And burst from His embrace.
But stopp'd me by His grace,
I raged from sin to be withheld,
And burst from His embrace.
When after each foul sinful fall,
I would have all given up,
He would not let me give up all,
But forced me still to hope.
I would have all given up,
He would not let me give up all,
But forced me still to hope.
446
Infinite, unexhausted love!
Jesus and love are one:
If still to me Thy bowels move,
They are restrain'd to none.
Jesus and love are one:
If still to me Thy bowels move,
They are restrain'd to none.
If me, even me Thou yet canst spare,
Fury is not in Thee;
For all Thy tender mercies are,
If mercy is for me.
Fury is not in Thee;
For all Thy tender mercies are,
If mercy is for me.
What shall I do my God to love?
My loving God to praise?
The length, and breadth, and height to prove,
And depth of sovereign grace?
My loving God to praise?
The length, and breadth, and height to prove,
And depth of sovereign grace?
Thy sovereign grace to all extends,
Immense and unconfined;
From age to age it never ends;
It reaches all mankind.
Immense and unconfined;
From age to age it never ends;
It reaches all mankind.
Throughout the world its breadth is known,
Wide as infinity!
So wide it never pass'd by one,
Or it had pass'd by me.
Wide as infinity!
So wide it never pass'd by one,
Or it had pass'd by me.
My trespass is grown up to heaven,
But far above the skies
In Christ abundantly forgiven
I see Thy mercies rise.
But far above the skies
In Christ abundantly forgiven
I see Thy mercies rise.
The depth of all-redeeming love
What angel tongue can tell?
O may I to the utmost prove
The gift unspeakable!
What angel tongue can tell?
O may I to the utmost prove
The gift unspeakable!
Deeper than hell, it pluck'd me thence;
Deeper than inbred sin,
Jesus's love my heart shall cleanse,
When Jesus enters in.
Deeper than inbred sin,
Jesus's love my heart shall cleanse,
When Jesus enters in.
447
Come quickly then, my Lord, and take
Possession of Thine own;
My longing heart vouchsafe to make
Thine everlasting throne.
Possession of Thine own;
My longing heart vouchsafe to make
Thine everlasting throne.
Assert Thy claim, receive Thy right,
Come quickly from above,
And sink me to perfection's height,
The depth of humble love.
Come quickly from above,
And sink me to perfection's height,
The depth of humble love.
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |