Wesley Corpus

Jesus, my hope, my rest, This load of sin remove, Thy name, thy nature manifest In purity and love: And when in knowing thee The heavenly life I live, Set my imprison'd spirit free, And to thyself receive. Giver of every useful gift, My thankful heart to thee I lift, Who hast a cottage given To lodge a poor wayfaring man, 'Till I my long-sought country gain, And find my house in heaven. Indulg'd with an obscure retreat, Ah, never leave me to forget That this is not my home; A sojourner and stranger still, I suffer and perform thy will, 'Till my Redeemer36 come. I seek not my repose below, If, long a man of strife and woe, I to the desart fly: If thou a moment's respite give, Thou knowst, I come not here to live, I37 only come to die. Author of godly sorrow, meet, And suffer me to kiss thy feet, And bathe them with my tears, 35A manuscript version of this hymn appears in shorthand on the back cover of MS Six. The few variants are noted here. 36Shorthand version reads "Redemption." 37Shorthand version substitutes "But" for "I." Page 125 My sins, tho' pardon'd, to bewail, 'Till thou release me from the vale, And life in death appears. The broken, contrite spirit give, And lo, I come to weep and grieve, And long for my remove, I gasp to breathe my native air, When once enabled to declare Thou knowst that thee I love. Ah, take me, Saviour, at my word, Pronounce me now to peace restor'd To purity of heart, Snatch from this38 soothing solitude My soul in spotless love renew'd, And bid39 me now depart. For a Woman in the Beginning of Her Travail. Jesus, the woman's conquering seed, Who didst our world of sorrows bear, Stand by me in my greatest need, And now accept my plaintive prayer: The painful curse intail'd by Eve On me, on all the weaker kind, O may I patiently receive, And turn'd into a blessing find.