The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

How shall a slave released
From his oppressive chain
Distinguish ease, and rest,
From weariness, and pain?
Can he his burden borne away
Infallibly perceive?
Or I before the judgment-day
My pardon'd sin believe?

Redeem'd from all his woes,
Out of his dungeon freed,
Ask, how the prisoner knows
That he is free indeed!
How can he tell the gloom of night
From the meridian blaze?
Or I discern the glorious light,
That streams from Jesu's face?

The gasping patient lies
In agony of pain!
But see him light arise,
Restored to health again
And doth he certainly receive
The knowledge of his cure!
And am I conscious that I live?
And is my pardon sure?

366

A wretch for years consign'd
To hopeless misery,
The happy change must find,
From all his pain set free:
And must not I the difference know
Of joy, and anxious grief,
Of grace, and sin, of weal, and woe,
Of faith, and unbelief?

Yes, Lord, I now perceive,
And bless Thee for the grace,
Through which redeem'd I live
To see Thy smiling face:
Alive I am, who once was dead,
And freely justified;
I know Thy blood for me was shed,
I feel it now applied.

By sin no longer bound,
The prisoner is set free,
The lost again is found
In paradise, in Thee:
In darkness, chains, and death I was,
But lo! to life restored,
Into Thy wondrous light I pass,
The freeman of the Lord.

In comfort, power, and peace
Thy favour, Lord, I prove,
In faith, and joy's increase,
And self-abasing love:
Thou dost my pardon'd sin reveal,
My life, and heart renew;
The pledge, the witness, and the seal
Confirm the record true.

367

The Spirit of my God
Hath certified Him mine,
And all the tokens show'd
Infallible, Divine:
Hereby the pardon'd sinner knows
His sins on earth forgiven,
And thus my faithful Saviour shows
My name inscribed in heaven.

University of Virginia Library

CLXII. THE SAME.

Hymn 2.

[How shall a slave released]