Wesley Corpus

Thankful I take the cup from thee, Prepar'd and mingled by thy skill: Tho' bitter to the taste it be, Pow'rful the wounded soul to heal. Be thou, O Rock of Ages, nigh: So shall each murm'ring thought be gone, And grief, and fear, and care shall fly, As clouds before the mid-day sun. Page 145 Speak to my warring passions, "Peace;" Say to my trembling heart, "Be still:" Thy pow'r my strength and fortress is, For all things serve thy sov'reign will. O death, where is thy sting? Where now Thy boasted victory, O grave? Who shall contend with God: or who Can hurt whom God delights to save? Page 147 In Desertion or Temptation. Ah! My dear Lord, whose changeless love To me, nor earth nor hell can part; When shall my feet forget to rove? Ah, what shall fix this faithless heart? Page 148 Why do these cares my soul divide If thou indeed hast set me free? Why am I thus, if God hath dy'd; If God hath dy'd to purchase46 me? Around me clouds of darkness roll, In deepest night I still walk on; Heavily moves my fainting soul, My comfort and my God are gone. Chearless and all forlorn I droop; In vain I lift my weary eye; No gleam of light, no ray of hope Appears throughout the darken'd sky. My feeble knees I bend again, My drooping hands again I rear: Vain is the task, the effort vain, My heart abhors the irksome pray'r. Oft with thy saints my voice I raise, And seem to join the tastless song: Faintly ascends th' imperfect praise, Or dies upon my thoughtless tongue. Cold, weary, languid, heartless, dead To thy dread courts I oft repair; By conscience drag'd, or custom led I come; nor know that God is there! 46"Purchase" changed to "ransom" in 4th edn. (1743) and 5th edn. (1756). Page 149 Nigh with my lips to thee I draw, Unconscious at thy altar found; Far off my heart: nor touch'd with awe, Nor mov'd tho' angels tremble round. In all I do, myself I feel, And groan beneath the wonted load, Still unrenew'd and carnal still, Naked of Christ, and void of God. Nor yet the earthly Adam dies, But lives, and moves, and fights again, Still the fierce gusts of passion rise, And rebel nature strives to reign.