The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Wretched, helpless, and distrest,
Ah! whither shall I fly?
Ever gasping after rest,
I cannot find it nigh:
Naked, sick, and poor, and blind,
Fast bound in sin and misery,
Friend of sinners, let me find
My help, my all in Thee.

Who my misery can relate,
My depth of woe reveal?
I have left my first estate,
In hapless Adam fell;
Driven out of my abode,
I now have lost my perfect bliss,
Fallen, fallen out of God,
And banish'd paradise.

I am all unclean, unclean,
Thy purity I want;
My whole heart is sick of sin,
And my whole head is faint:
Full of putrefying sores,
Of bruises, and of wounds, my soul
Looks to Jesus, help implores,
And gasps to be made whole.

In the wilderness I stray;
My foolish heart is blind;
Nothing do I know; the way
Of peace I cannot find:
Jesu, Lord, restore my sight,
And take, O, take the veil away;
Turn my darkness into light,
My midnight into day.

Naked of thine image, Lord,
Forsaken and alone,
Unrenew'd and unrestored
I have not Thee put on:
Over me Thy mantle spread,
Send down Thy likeness from above,
Let Thy goodness be display'd,
And wrap me in Thy love.

Poor, alas! Thou know'st I am,
And would be poorer still,
See my nakedness and shame,
And all my vileness feel:
No good thing in me resides,
My soul is all an aching void
Till Thy Spirit here abides,
And I am fill'd with God.

Jesus, full of truth and grace,
In Thee is all I want;
Be the wanderer's resting-place,
A cordial to the faint.
Make me rich, for I am poor;
In Thee may I my Eden find;
To the dying health restore,
And eyesight to the blind.

Clothe me with Thy holiness,
Thy meek humility;
Put on me my glorious dress,
Endue my soul with Thee.
Let Thine image be restored,
Thy name and nature let me prove;
With Thy fulness fill me, Lord,
And perfect me in love.

University of Virginia Library

ANOTHER.

[Wretched, helpless, and distrest]