The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Such comfort I find,
On His bosom reclined,
Who has sprinkled my heart with His blood:
My mountain of bliss,
So establish'd it is
By the hands of a merciful God.

My joy and my song,
Thou hast made me so strong,
And superior to trouble and pain;
My conflicts are pass'd,
And triumphant at last,
I shall never be tempted again.

286

Thou hast saved me from sin,
Both without and within,
I am perfectly happy and free:
My election is sure,
My heart, it is pure,
And evil I never shall see.

PART II.

While thus I went on,
Instantaneously gone
Was the light of Thy heavenly face:
My presumption to chide,
Thy face Thou didst hide,
And withdraw the ecstatical grace.

My trouble return'd,
And I bitterly mourn'd
The loss of my only Delight:
For Thy absence distress'd,
Above measure oppress'd,
O'erwhelm'd with a mountain of night.

In desertion and grief,
I applied for relief
To my God, whom I forced to depart;
And besought Him to hear
With a pitiful ear,
The complaint of a sorrowful heart.

Bereft of my peace,
From the deepest abyss
Thy mercy I humbly implore:
A mere sinner forgive,
Unworthy to live,
And the help of Thy Spirit restore.

287

What advantage to God,
That I die in my blood,
The reward of iniquity meet?
Will it benefit Thee,
If destruction I see,
And sink into the bottomless pit?

If I perish forgot,
Or my memory rot,
Thy glory I never can show:
Or the truth of Thy grace,
In torments confess,
To the blasphemous spirits below.

O Saviour, attend
My affliction to end,
If unchangeable mercy Thou art:
Discover the blood
That has pacified God,
And apply it again to my heart.

O Jesus, appear,
My Deliverer here,
And assist me again to believe:
And for ever restored
To the sight of my God,
To the heaven of heavens receive.

PART III.

I am heal'd, I am heal'd!
Thou again hast reveal'd
Thy unsearchable mercies to me:
With Thee I possess
The sweet comforts of grace,
And the light of Thy countenance see.

288

My sorrowful night,
Into rapture and light,
By Thy sudden appearance is turn'd;
And establish'd in peace,
I forget my distress,
Or rejoice that I ever have mourn'd.

My sordid array
Thou hast ravish'd away,
And adorn'd me with beauty and love;
And triumphantly glad,
With holiness clad,
I return to the country above.

All Israel shall see
Thy goodness to me,
And expect and experience the same;
And incessantly praise
The abundance of grace,
The full virtue of Jesus's name.

I continue the song,
With a numberless throng,
Who the Lover of sinners adore:
Each moment employ
In the spirit of joy,
And exult, and give thanks evermore.

The redeem'd of the Lamb
We Thy glory proclaim,
For a few, happy festival days:
Singing on till we fly
To our friends in the sky,
And eternity spend in Thy praise.

University of Virginia Library

843.

[Inexpressibly great]

[PART I.]

PART II.

PART III.