Wesley Corpus

Me baptiz'd into thy passion, Made like thee, visit me With thy great salvation. By the travail of thy Spirit Me sustain, by thy pain, By thy bleeding merit. In my bitterest affliction By thy cup hold me up, By thy dereliction. Now I have thine aid bespoken, Peace impart to my heart, Give the loving token. Page 53 Love of my expiring Saviour Be the sign I am thine, Thou art mine for ever! Jesus, thou Son of Mary, Thou Son of the Most-High, Lo, at thy feet I tarry, And on thy truth rely; In awful expectation Of my distressing hour, I look for thy salvation For all thy mercy's power. On thee my health in sickness My feeble soul is stay'd, Thy strength in human weakness Is perfectly display'd: Thou never wilt forsake me Who on thy love depend, But to thy bosom take me 'Till pain with life shall end. Lord, I magnify thy power, Thy love and faithfulness, Kept to my appointed hour In safety and in peace: Let thy providential care Still my sure protection be, 'Till a living child I bear, A sacrifice to thee.18 Who so near the birth hast brought, (Since I on thee rely) Tell me, Saviour, wilt thou not Thy farther help supply? 16A manuscript version of this hymn, in Charles Wesley's hand, is found in MS Travail, 12. 17Charles sent the first three stanzas of this hymn, "just as it came to my mind," in a letter to his wife Sarah on 17 May 1755, concerning the pending birth of their daughter Martha Maria. Sadly, the child died shortly after her birth. The letter is at Emory University, MARBL, Wesley Family Papers, Box 4, file 55. It contains three textual variants, noted below. A manuscript version of the hymn, in Sarah Wesley's hand, is found in MS Travail, 10-11. 18In the original letter this line reads: "And give it back to thee." Page 54 Whisper to my list'ning soul, Wilt thou not my strength renew, Nature's fears and pangs19 controul, And bring thy handmaid thro'? Father, in the name I pray Of thine incarnate love, Humbly ask, that as my day My suffering20 strength may prove: When my sorrows most increase, Let thy strongest joys be given; Jesus come with my distress, And agony is heaven.