The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

The mariners are struck with fear,
And shudder at destruction near,
So high the billows swell,
Ready to' o'erwhelm our shatter'd state;
Thy judgments fall with all their weight,
To crush us into hell.

Ah! wherefore is this evil come?
Show us, Omniscient God, for whom
Thy plagues our church befall:
Give, while we ask, a righteous lot,
And let the guilty soul be caught,
Who brings Thy curse on all.

With trembling awe we humbly pray,
Now, now the secret cause display
Of our calamity;
Whose sins have brought Thy judgments down?
Alas, my God, the cause I own,
The lot is fallen on me!

I am the man, the Jonas I,
For me the working waves run high;
For me the curse takes place:
I have increased the nation's load;
I have call'd down the wrath of God
On all our helpless race.

With guilty, unbelieving dread
Long have I from His presence fled,
And shunn'd the sight of heaven:

In vain the pardoning God pursued;
I would not be by grace subdued,
I would not be forgiven.

I know the tempest roars for me,
Till I am cast into the sea
Its rage can never cease:
Here then I to my doom submit,
Do with me as Thy will sees fit,
But give Thy people peace.

Save, Jesu, save the sinking ship;
And lo! I plunge into the deep
Of all Thy judgments here:
I fall beneath Thy threatenings, Lord;
But let my soul, at last restored,
Before Thy face appear.

Beneath Thine anger's present weight
I sink, and only deprecate
Thy sorer wrath to come:
Give me at last in Thee a part,
And now, in mercy, now avert
The guilty nation's doom.

O bid the angry waves subside,
Into a calm the tempest chide
By Thy supreme command;
Thou in our broken ship remain,
Till every soul the harbour gain,
And reach the heavenly land.

University of Virginia Library

IV.

[Merciful God, to Thee we cry]