Wesley Corpus

Volume 3 (1780): 510-11 Before Preaching.16 Lord, if thy sov'reign majesty Doth still vouchsafe to send by me, Ev'n me thy meanest servant own, And make thy love to sinners known. Thy presence and thy help afford, To ratify the gracious word. Th' attesting Spirit's seal set to, To prove the joyful tidings true. If thou the genuine gospel bless, They must thy saving pow'r confess Whoe'er in Jesu's blood believe, And peace and righteousness receive. Come then, in blessings from above, Thy Godhead, truth and mercy prove, The gift unspeakable impart, And write thy name on every heart. 16Appears in MS Miscellaneous Hymns, 230-31. Volume 3 (1780): 566-68 For the Fast-Day, Feb. 10, 1779.17 Tremendous God, thy work we see, Thy strange destruction work below, Chastis'd for our iniquity Compell'd the fatal cause to know: We tremble, as the storm comes on, And turns the kingdoms upside down. Abroad the sword our kin devours, And thousands and ten thousands fall; (Their doom alas! Involving ours) Yet still for sorer plagues they call; And by the tyrant's heaviest chain, With wasted realm, and heaps of slain. By famine, pestilence, and sword, Thou hast our guilty brethren tri'd; Yet, Oh! Thou dread, avenging Lord, Thy justice is not satisfi'd; Thine anger is not turn'd away, Thine arm is still stretch'd out to slay. Britons at home with Britons fight, And furious partizans engage, With cruel hate, and full despite Intestine war they madly rage: By discord dire the land o'erturn, And thee and thy vicegerent scorn. Thy speaking rod they will not hear, Thy lifted hand they will not see: But cast off all religious fear, And only by their crimes agree Their sinful measure to fulfil, Their own extreme perdition seal. Yet Oh! Thou gracious God and true, Our death-devoted nation spare, Attentive to the pious few, Who wrestle on in ceaseless pray'r; Who will not let thy wrath alone, 17Appears in MS Miscellaneous Hymns, 233-35. This was an official fast day in England, related to the war with the North American colonists.