The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Giver of every good,
To praise Thy love I wake,
Thy love the balmy sleep bestow'd
For my Redeemer's sake;
Thy love kept off the pain
That oft invades my breast,
And bids my soul aspire again
To its eternal Rest.

To Thee in Christ my Peace
Again I humbly turn,
My past ingratitude confess,
My life of folly mourn;

102

A life how dark and void!
A long-continued blot!
Talents or hid, or misemploy'd,
And benefits forgot.

My virtues false and vain,
My justest works unjust,
Not one but gives my conscience pain,
And lays me in the dust:
But worse than all I find
The bitter root within,
The beastly heart, the devilish mind,
The hell of inbred sin.

Far from myself to Thee,
Thou sinner's Friend, I fly,
Forced out by my own misery
To seek salvation nigh:
The' infallible relief
Assured at last to prove,
And lose my depths of sin and grief
In Thy abyss of love.

One thing I now desire,
While for Thy love I stay,
One blessing instantly require,
And will not be said nay;
To genuine holiness
Till Thou my soul restore,
Give joy or grief, give pain or ease,
But bid me sin no more.

103

LXXXVI.

[And let this gross corporeal clay]

And let this gross corporeal clay
Clog the pure, ethereal ray,
And weigh my spirit down,
My spirit shall superior rise,
If Jesus shows me from the skies
That everlasting crown.

Sick, and in pain, why should I grieve?
“Troubled heart, in Me believe,
And heaven, He saith, is thine:”
He went before, that all who mourn
Might triumph in His swift return,
And see the Face Divine.

Fulness of joy His presence gives,
Heaven its heavenliness receives,
When Him unveil'd we see:
Of all our bliss the fount and root,
The tree, the blossom, and the fruit
Is immortality.

My immortality Thou art,
Glorious earnest in my heart,
Jesus, to me be given:
Of Thee possess'd, I ask no more,
But happy in Thy love adore
The Joy of earth and heaven.

LXXXVII.

[O Thou, whose kind compassion]

O Thou, whose kind compassion
Hath lengthen'd out my day,
To see Thy great salvation
Still in the flesh I stay:

104

Thyself the cause unfoldest
Of all Thy patient grace,
My soul in life Thou holdest,
That I may see Thy face.

For this, as tottering over
The grave I feebly stand,
Till Thou Thyself discover,
And bring me safe to land;
I live, though daily dying,
And languish for that peace,
And wait that blood's applying
Which signs my soul's release.

My God, Thou wilt not leave me,
When strength and friends depart,
But graciously forgive me,
And seal it on my heart
In joy beyond expressing,
In comforts from above,
In every gospel blessing,
In all the life of love.

Come then my Consolation,
My Life beyond the grave,
And show me Thy salvation,
And by Thy presence save:
In faith's most strict embraces
O might I compass Thee,
And then in heavenly places
Thy face for ever see.

105

LXXXVIII.

[Of a dejected spirit]

Of a dejected spirit
I want the sovereign cure,
The all-atoning merit
Which makes salvation sure:
In secret meditation
On an expiring God,
I wait the application
Of Jesus' balmy blood.

What but my faithful thinking
On Him who stain'd the tree,
Can prop my nature sinking
In its own misery?
What but the sacred Fountain
Which purged a world of sin,
Can move this guilty mountain,
And give me peace within?

When sick of sin I languish,
My plague incurable,
My wounded spirit's anguish
Will men or angels heal?
So desperate my condition,
I only can confide
In that Divine Physician
Who for His patients died.

His death the sinner raises
With His own love reveal'd,
My mouth is fill'd with praises,
My heart with joy is fill'd;

106

A blessed man forgiven,
A saved, regenerate soul,
I go in peace to heaven,
When faith hath made me whole.

LXXXIX.

[No more amused by earthly things]

No more amused by earthly things,
Or worldly vanity,
Father, my troubled spirit brings
Its last distress to Thee:
Spare me, a little longer spare,
In feeble age I cry,
Thou God, who hear'st the faintest prayer,
And all my sins pass by.

For this alone I wish to live,
That I Thy love may feel,
Thy power a sinner to forgive,
And all my sickness heal;
To live, till I my strength regain
Original, Divine,
Thy favour forfeited obtain,
And in Thine image shine.

This only blessing I implore,
The Gift unspeakable,
The Spirit of life and health and power,
The Witness, Pledge, and Seal:
Nought differing from a servant I,
Till Thou Thy Spirit impart,
And hear Him Abba Father cry
In my poor broken heart.

107

Him as a Spirit of binding fear
Thou hast on me bestow'd,
Sure token of redemption near
With Jesus' sprinkled blood:
The blessed hope lifts up my head,
While in Thy Spirit I groan,
And call out of the deep, and plead
The passion of Thy Son.

What Jesus' blood for me did buy
May I not humbly claim?
Thou canst not, Lord, my suit deny
Who ask in Jesus' name:
I ask what He hath made my right,
A pardon full and free:
And if Thou dost in Him delight,
Thou art well-pleased with me.

Me, me for His dear sake alone
Into Thine arms receive,
And let me feel the peace unknown,
And consciously believe;
By holy confidence Divine
Made ready to depart,
I then my spotless soul resign,
And see Thee as Thou art.

XC.

[Let the redeem'd give thanks and praise]

Let the redeem'd give thanks and praise
To a forgiving God:
My feeble voice I cannot raise,
Till wash'd in Jesus' blood;

108

Till at Thy coming from above
My mountain-sins depart,
And fear gives place to filial love,
And peace o'erflows my heart.

The peace which man can ne'er conceive,
The love and joy unknown,
Wilt Thou not to Thy servant give,
And claim me for Thy own;
My God in Jesus pacified
My God Thyself declare,
And draw me to His open side,
And plunge the sinner there?

Prisoner of hope I still attend
The' appearance of my Lord,
These endless doubts and sins to end,
And speak my soul restored,
Restored by reconciling grace,
With present pardon bless'd,
And fitted by true holiness
For my eternal rest.

Yet ah! my troubled spirit knows
Its own infirmities;
Till God on me His Son bestows,
I cannot die in peace:
A stranger to the' atoning God
Who did our world redeem,
Unless He wash me in His blood,
I have no part with Him.

But wilt Thou not the balm apply,
The purchased blessing give?
Thou didst for every sinner die,
That all mankind may live;

109

That I Thy pardoning love may taste,
May live on earth forgiven,
And in Thy mercy's arms embraced
Return with Thee to heaven.

XCI.

[God of my life preserved by grace]

God of my life preserved by grace
Like Moses' bush amidst the fire,
Teach me to count aright my days,
With wisdom pure my heart inspire,
That busied with the one concern,
I may my remnant life employ
Thy meek humility to learn,
And enter Thy celestial joy.

In number as my days decrease,
In value, Lord, I know, they rise,
And every moment makes them less,
And brings me nearer to the skies;
If taught my talents to improve,
My hours I on account receive,
And live to win Thy precious love,
And only for Thy glory live.

Thy Spirit now if Thou infuse,
My latter end I wisely weigh,
No more the' important moments lose,
No more neglect to watch and pray:
Stirr'd up to seek the God unknown,
My soul awakes to righteousness,
And strives, and pants, and wrestles on
For power to live and die in peace.

110

This instant now I cease from sin,
This instant now I turn to Thee,
And trust Thy blood to make me clean
From all, from all impurity:
The current of Thy powerful blood
Shall all my mountain-sins remove,
Wash off, wash out my nature's load,
And waft me to the port above.

XCII.

[Most sensibly declining]

Most sensibly declining,
Born to resign my breath,
Why should I live repining
At the approach of death?
In peevish lamentation
For life I cannot cry,
Appointed to salvation,
And joys that never die.

O were that point secured,
My sorrows all would cease,
O were my soul assured
Of everlasting peace.
Saviour, I want the witness
Of my felicity,
And languish for that meetness
To share a throne with Thee.

Thy Spirit's attestation,
Added, O God, to mine,
Must be the confirmation
That I am truly Thine:

111

With faith and love inspire
Thy Spirit into my heart,
And let the Sanctifier
Dispose me to depart.

Thy manifested favour
Better than life I feel,
When conscious that my Saviour
Doth in His servant dwell:
The rapturous sensation
Restores my paradise,
Prepares for my translation,
And wafts me to the skies.

Come then my hope of glory,
My unprecarious peace,
My joy untransitory,
My perfect righteousness,
The kingdom of Thy Spirit
Establish, Lord, in me,
And take me up to' inherit
My heaven of heavens in Thee.

XCIII.

[Weary of this daily dying]

Weary of this daily dying,
Crush'd with my own misery,
Lord, Thou hear'st Thy creature crying
After real life in Thee:
Friend of helpless sinners, ease me
By Thy last distressful cries,
By Thy mortal pangs release me
From the death that never dies.

112

Guilt my troubled spirit harrows,
Gives to death his dread array,
Points his sting, and wings his arrows,
Arms him with his power to slay:
Only Thy tremendous passion
Can my fears and sins control,
Save from endless condemnation,
Pacify my ransom'd soul.

O might that revealing Spirit
Take of Thine and show to me,
Show Thy all-redeeming merit,
Thy eternal Deity,
While beneath my burden groaning
I my unbelief confess,
Show my heart the blood atoning,
Bid me then depart in peace.

XCIV.

[With sin and grief beginning]

With sin and grief beginning,
Must I with sorrow end
A wretched life, and sinning
Into the grave descend?
Will mercy's arms receive me,
When all my woes are past?
Or God refuse to give me
Pardon and peace at last?

No longer I endeavour
Myself to justify,
Convinced my Maker's favour
I cannot, cannot buy:

113

No deeds or tempers virtuous
Have I wherein to trust:
If Love will lose His purchase,
I am for ever lost.

But is there no salvation
For sinners lost as me?
But is there no compassion
In Him who stain'd the tree?
Jesus, Thou cam'st from heaven,
And pouredst out Thy blood,
That I might die forgiven,
Might share the throne of God.

Soon as Thy passion tells me
Hope in my end there is,
Soon as Thy Spirit seals me
An heir of endless bliss,
The kingdom to inherit,
I would with joy resign
My disembodied spirit
Into the hands Divine.

XCV.

[Bending beneath the burden]

Bending beneath the burden
Of sinful misery,
I wait to feel the pardon
Thy blood procured for me:
Giver of life unceasing,
Thine aged servant own,
And bless me with the blessing,
The heaven on earth begun.

114

Death I no more desire,
By countless woes oppress'd;
Do Thou my soul require,
Whene'er Thou know'st it best:
Sooner, O God, or later
My soul from earth remove,
But first impart Thy nature,
And change me into love.

XCVI.

[Father, Thy gracious warning]

Father, Thy gracious warning
I thankfully receive,
And to Thy arms returning
Prepare with Thee to live:
Thy prisoner to unshackle
Soon as the angels come,
I quit this tabernacle
For my celestial home.

What is that preparation
For fellowship with Thee,
For final full salvation,
But faith and purity,
The dire handwriting blotted,
The peace and life of God,
The holiness unspotted
Which comes with Jesus' blood!

Its virtue sanctifying
O might I throughly know,
And on His death relying
To life eternal go!

115

Father, send forth His Spirit
Into my hallow'd heart,
And meet Thy throne to' inherit,
Meet am I to depart.

My head with Jesus bending,
On His great sacrifice
I rest my soul, ascending
To joy that never dies;
With Jesus' resignation,
With Jesus' perfect love,
I finish my oblation,
And take my seat above.

University of Virginia Library

FOR THE MORNING.

LXXXV.

[Giver of every good]