Wesley Corpus

In thine appointed ways we wait, The ways thy wisdom hath enjoin'd; Thy saving grace we here shall meet, If every one that seeks shall find. Nor can we thus thy wrath appease; We and our works are all unclean, As filthy rags our righteousness, Our good is ill, our virtue sin. Like wither'd leaves we fade away, We all deserve thy wrath to feel, Swift as the wind our sins convey, And sweep our guilty souls to hell. Not one will call upon thy name, Stir himself up thy grace to see, The Lord his righteousness to claim, And boldly to take hold on thee. Page 203 For O! Thy face is turn'd aside, Since we refus'd t' obey thy will; Thou hast consum'd us for our pride, Thy heavy hand consumes us still. But art thou not our Father now? Our Father now thou surely art: Humbly beneath thy frown we bow, We seek thee with a trembling heart. The potter thou, and we the clay; Behold us at thy footstool laid, In anger cast us not away, The creatures whom thy hands have made. O let thine anger rage no more, Remember not iniquity; See, Lord, and all our sins pass o'er, Thy own peculiar people see. Jerusalem in ruins lies, A wilderness thy cities are; A den of thieves thy temple is, No longer now the house of prayer. Where humbly low our fathers bow'd, And thee with joyful lips ador'd, Idolaters profanely croud, And take the altar for its Lord. Page 204 The sacred means thyself ordain'd, Others reject with impious haste; By these blasphem'd, by those profan'd, Our pleasant things are all laid waste. And wilt thou not this havock see, For which we ever, ever mourn? Still shall we cry in vain to thee? Return, our gracious Lord, return! Hold not thy peace at Sion's woe, O cast not out thy people's prayer, Regard thy suffering church below, And spare, the weeping remnant spare. Thy fallen tabernacle raise, Thy chastisement at last remove, That all mankind may sing thy praise, Thou God of truth, thou God of love. Hebrews iv. 9. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Lord, I believe a rest remains To all thy people known, A rest, where pure enjoyment reigns, And thou art lov'd alone. Page 205