Wesley Corpus

Thy pity, and paternal care, The tender yearnings of thy heart, Are they restrain'd? Is fury there? Ah no! Thou still our Father art. Doubtless thou art our Father still, Though Abraham his seed disowns Debas'd by sin, though Israel Renounces his degenerate sons. Our Lord, and our Redeemer now Thou art, and will7 be still the same, Our everlasting Father thou; Jehovah is thy glorious name. Why then, O Lord, if ours thou art, Why hast thou suffer'd us to rove? Withdrawn thy Spirit from our heart, And left us to our want of love? Why hast thou hid thy lovely face, And caus'd us from thy paths to err? Abandon'd by restraining grace Our hearts were harden'd from thy fear. Yet, Lord, for thee again we mourn, Now let our prayers thine aid engage, Now for thy servant's sake return, And chear thy drooping heritage. The land we fondly deem'd our own (Alas, how short a time enjoy'd!) Our adversaries have o'erthrown, And trampled on the house of God. 7"Will" changed to "wilt" in 3rd edn. (1756). Page 14 Yet we are thine, though dispossest, And outcasts from the promis'd land, They never have thy sway confess'd, Or yielded to thy just command. We, we are call'd by thy great name, Accept our plea, thine ear incline, Thine, Lord, we are, renew thy claim, Receive, and seal us ever thine. God's Husbandry. From the German.8 High on his everlasting throne, The King of saints his works surveys, Marks the dear souls he calls his own, And smiles on the peculiar race. He rests well-pleas'd their toil to see, Beneath his easy yoke they move, With all their heart and strength agree In the sweet labour of his love. His eye the world at once looks thro', A vast uncultivated field! Mountains and vales, in ghastly shew, A barren uncouth prospect yield. Clear'd of the thorns by human care, A few less hideous wastes are seen, Yet still they all continue bare, And not one spot of earth is green. See where the servants of their God, A busy multitude, appear, For Jesus day and night employ'd, His heritage they toil to clear. 8Source: Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, ed. Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrn-Huth (Halle: Wäysenhaus, 1737), 909-10 (1004, by August Gottlieb Spangenberg).