 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
XV. A PRAYER FOR THE FIRST MARTYR.
Head of Thy suffering church below,
We ask in faith the passive power,
Thy perfect strength in weakness show,
And arm us for the dreadful hour.
We ask in faith the passive power,
Thy perfect strength in weakness show,
And arm us for the dreadful hour.
Prepare the soul Thou first shalt call
To own in death the pardoning God,
To die for Him who died for all,
And seal the record with his blood.
To own in death the pardoning God,
To die for Him who died for all,
And seal the record with his blood.
Thy hardy soldier, Lord, inure,
The daily cross with joy to prove;
Give him an heart resolved, and pure,
And meek, and full of patient love.
The daily cross with joy to prove;
Give him an heart resolved, and pure,
And meek, and full of patient love.
Give him, when now the day draws near,
His utter helplessness to see;
Give him the self-mistrusting fear,
The humble awe that cleaves to Thee.
His utter helplessness to see;
Give him the self-mistrusting fear,
The humble awe that cleaves to Thee.
To Thee let him in faith look up,
And claim the succours from above,
And rise to all the strength of hope,
To all the' omnipotence of love.
And claim the succours from above,
And rise to all the strength of hope,
To all the' omnipotence of love.
O'erwhelm him with the' amazing grace,
That he, so poor, so self-abhorr'd,
Least of the blood-besprinkled race,
That he should suffer for his Lord!
That he, so poor, so self-abhorr'd,
Least of the blood-besprinkled race,
That he should suffer for his Lord!
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Give him the' indubitable sign
That all his sufferings are for Thee;
Assure his heart the cause is Thine,
And Thou wilt get the victory.
That all his sufferings are for Thee;
Assure his heart the cause is Thine,
And Thou wilt get the victory.
Give him, before he bows his head,
The sight to fervent Stephen given,
The everlasting doors display'd,
The glories of a wide-spread heaven.
The sight to fervent Stephen given,
The everlasting doors display'd,
The glories of a wide-spread heaven.
Show him Thyself at God's right hand:
Thou on the faithful soul look down,
Thou by Thy dying champion stand,
And reach him out the starry crown.
Thou on the faithful soul look down,
Thou by Thy dying champion stand,
And reach him out the starry crown.
Inspire him with Thy tender care
For those who nail'd Thee to the wood,
And give to his expiring prayer
The men that drive his soul to God.
For those who nail'd Thee to the wood,
And give to his expiring prayer
The men that drive his soul to God.
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |