 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
XII.
[By vengeance terribly o'ertook]
By vengeance terribly o'ertook,
By man ahhorr'd, by God forsook,
Caught in the toils of hellish pain,
To whom, alas, can we complain?
By man ahhorr'd, by God forsook,
Caught in the toils of hellish pain,
To whom, alas, can we complain?
We have the wages of our sin,
Who murderers of ourselves have been;
Compell'd both God and man to clear,
We have our penal sufferings here.
Who murderers of ourselves have been;
Compell'd both God and man to clear,
We have our penal sufferings here.
Not for a single crime we die,
Numberless sins for justice cry,
Unnumber'd sins by man unknown;
Nor can our death for one atone.
Numberless sins for justice cry,
Unnumber'd sins by man unknown;
Nor can our death for one atone.
Man's justice can no more demand:
But soon we at His bar shall stand
Who knows the secrets of our hearts,
And gives to all their just deserts.
But soon we at His bar shall stand
Who knows the secrets of our hearts,
And gives to all their just deserts.
Guilty we must receive our hire,
Tormented in that quenchless fire,
If mercy does not interpose
To snatch us from eternal woes.
Tormented in that quenchless fire,
If mercy does not interpose
To snatch us from eternal woes.
Being of beings, Source of love,
If misery may Thy pity move,
Remember Him who stain'd the tree,
And for His sake remember me!
If misery may Thy pity move,
Remember Him who stain'd the tree,
And for His sake remember me!
Most wretched of the sinful race,
I ask His utmost power of grace,
Who saves in death repentant thieves,
And His own murderers forgives.
I ask His utmost power of grace,
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And His own murderers forgives.
Hear then His all-availing prayer,
Nor leave us in extreme despair,
But make Thine utmost mercy known,
And give us to Thy pleading Son.
Nor leave us in extreme despair,
But make Thine utmost mercy known,
And give us to Thy pleading Son.
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |