Wesley Corpus

Jesus, I behold thee now; But my ever-roving eye Loses thee, I know not how, Soon I faint, fall back, and die; Doubt again my heart assails, Unbelief again prevails. I am never at one stay, Changing every hour I am, But thou art, as yesterday, Now, and evermore the same; Constancy to me impart, 'Stablish with thy grace my heart. 92A manuscript precursor of this hymn appears in MS Thirty, 175-77. Page 167 Lay thy weighty cross on me, All my unbelief controul: 'Till the rebel cease to be, Keep him down within my soul: That he never more may move, Root, and ground me fast in love. Give me faith to hold me up Walking over life's rough sea; Holy purifying hope Still my soul's sure anchor be: That I may be always thine, Perfect me in love divine. This the high the heavenly prize: Perfect love when I attain, I shall never quit the skies, I shall never fall again, Pure as the atoning blood, Stedfast as the throne of God. After a Recovery. Hymn VIII.94 O my old, my bosom-foe, Rejoice not over me! Oft times thou hast laid me low; And wounded mortally; Yet thy prey thou couldst not keep, Jesus, when I lowest fell, Heard me cry out of the deep, And brought me up from hell. Foolish world, thy shouts forbear, 'Till thou hast won the day: Could thy wisdom keep me there, When in thy hands I lay? 93John Wesley crossed out this stanza in his personal copy of the 2nd edn. (1755). 94A manuscript precursor of this hymn appears in MS Thirty, 38-39. Page 168 If my heart to thee incline, Christ again shall set it free: I am his, and he is mine To all eternity. Satan, cease thine empty boast, And give thy triumphs o'er; Still thou seest I am not lost, While Jesus can restore: Though thro' thy deceit I fall, Surely I shall rise again; Christ my King is over all, And I with him shall reign. O my three-fold enemy, To whom I long did bow, See your lawful captive see, No more your captive now: Now before my face ye fly, More than conque'ror now I am, Sin, the world, and hell defy In Jesu's powerful name. The Bloody Issue Cured.95