Wesley Corpus

Grov'ling on earth we still must lie Till Christ the curse repeal; Till Christ descending from on high Infected nature heal. Come then, our heav'nly Adam, come! Thy healing influence give; Hallow our food, reverse our doom, And bid us eat and live. 4Charles adapted stanzas 5-8 of this hymn for use in a later manuscript selection for his family: MS Family, 12-13. Page 36 The bondage of corruption break! For this our spirits groan; Thy only will we fain would seek; O save us from our own. Turn the full stream of nature's tide: Let all our actions tend To thee their source; thy love the guide, Thy glory be the end. Earth then a scale to heav'n shall be, Sense shall point out the road; The creatures then5 shall lead to thee, And all we taste be God! Grace After Meat. Being of beings, God of love, To thee our hearts we raise; Thy all-sustaining pow'r we prove, And gladly sing thy praise. Thine, wholly thine we pant to be, Our sacrifice receive; Made, and preserv'd, and sav'd by thee, To thee ourselves we give. 5"Then" changed to "all" in 4th edn. (1743) and 5th edn. (1756). Page 37 Heav'nward our ev'ry wish aspires: For all thy mercy's store The sole return thy love requires, Is that we ask for more. For more we ask, we open then Our hearts t' embrace thy will: Turn and beget us, Lord, again, With all thy fulness fill! Come, Holy Ghost, the Saviour's love Shed in our hearts abroad; So shall we ever live and move, And be, with Christ, in God. Page 55 A Hymn for Midnight.6 While midnight shades the earth o'erspread, And veil the bosom of the deep, Nature reclines her weary head, And care respires and sorrows sleep: My soul still aims at nobler rest, Aspiring to her Saviour's breast. 6Title changed in 4th edn. (1743) to "A Midnight Hymn for One under the Law." John Wesley corrects this title by hand in his personal copy of the 5th edn. (1756) to "A Midnight Hymn for One Convinced of Sin." Page 56 Aid me, ye hov'ring spirits near, Angels and ministers of grace; Who ever, while you guard us here, Behold your heav'nly Father's face! Gently my raptur'd soul convey To regions of eternal day.