The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Father, and can it be
That Thou shouldst still forbear,
Shouldst still reprieve and suffer me
Who all Thy threatenings dare?
Who all Thy mercies spurn,
A deep revolter I,
And ever to my vomit turn,
As resolute to die.

Soon as Thy slighted grace
Doth on Thy rebel call,
And yet again begin to raise
The sinner from his fall;
I weep, and watch, and pray:
And weary of the pain,
Forget my God, and sink away,
And plunge in sin again.

Yet O Thou wilt not quit
A wretch that flies from Thee,
Thee though I evermore forget,
Thou still rememberest me;

448

Ten thousand thousand times
Thou dost my sins pass by;
Thy mercies rise above my crimes,
And will not let me die.

O unexhausted grace,
O love unsearchable!
I am not gone to my own place,
I am not yet in hell!
Earth doth not open yet
My soul to swallow up;
And hanging o'er the yawning pit
I still am forced to hope.

I hope at last to find
The kingdom from above,
The settled peace, the constant mind,
The everlasting love;
The sanctifying grace
That makes me meet for home:
I hope to see Thy glorious face
Where sin shall never come.

What shall I do to keep
The blessed hope I feel?
Still let me pray, and watch, and weep,
And serve Thy pleasure still.
O never may I grieve
My kind longsuffering Lord,
But steadfastly to Jesus cleave,
And answer all Thy word.

Lord, if Thou hast bestow'd
On me this gracious fear,
This horror of offending God,
O keep it always here;

449

And that I never more
May from Thy ways depart,
Enter with all Thy mercy's power,
And dwell within my heart.

University of Virginia Library

XCII. THE SAME.

Hymn 5.

[Father, and can it be]