Wesley Corpus

Dost thou, to break my pride, Refuse to heal my wound, And let me still in sin abide, That grace may more abound? Ah no! Thy purity My sin would never chuse, Thou canst not, Lord, to humble me, The help of Satan use. Dost thou refuse to hear The object of thy hate, The vessel of thy wrath severe, The hopeless reprobate? Page 150 Why then am I with-held From blasphemous despair? Why am I thus again compell'd To plead with thee in pray'r? Righteous in all thy ways, Dost thou thy grace restrain, T' avenge the quarrel of thy grace, By me receiv'd in vain? But at my greatest need Have I no friend above, No advocate my cause to plead Before the throne of love? My Saviour prays for me, Yet no relief I feel, Fast bound in sin and misery, Unsav'd, unhappy still; Who shall the cause declare, The secret bar reveal! Past finding out thy judgments are, Thy ways unsearchable. Here then I lay me down In darkness, grief, and shame; A sinner, O thou God unknown, But in thy hands I am: My sole disposer thou, And what thou dost with me, And what my end, I know not now, But leave it all to thee. Page 151 Hymns for One Fallen from Grace. Hymn XXXIV. O that I could repent, O that I could believe! Thou by thy voice the marble rent, The rock in sunder cleave; Thou by thy two-edg'd sword My soul and spirit part, Strike with the hammer of thy word, And break my stubborn heart. Saviour and Prince of Peace, The double grace bestow, Unloose the bands of wickedness, And let the captive go: Grant me my sins to feel, And then the load remove, Wound, and pour in my wounds to heal, The balm of pardning love. Or, if thou wilt, keep back That joyous sense of grace, But let me now my sins forsake, And hate all evil ways; Hate with a perfect hate Whatever thwarts thy will, And groan beneath my guilty weight, And bear my burthen still. Do with me as thou wilt, But leave me not t' increase My debt of old-contracted guilt, My load of wickedness: Page 152 Save me from farther sin, From farther misery, And fix a mighty gulph between The cursed thing and me.