Wesley Corpus

Pain, my old companion pain, Seldom parted from my side, Welcome to thy seat again, Here, if God permits, abide: Pledge of sure-approaching ease, Haste to stop my wretched breath, Rugged messenger of peace, Joyful harbinger of death. 47Manuscript precursors of this hymn appear in MS Cheshunt, 53-54; MS Clarke, 59-60; and MS Shent, 149a-149b. Page 264 Foe to nature as thou art, I embrace thee as my friend: Thou shalt bid my griefs depart, Bring me to my journey's end: Yes, I joyfully decay, Homeward thro' thy help I haste; Thou hast shook the house of clay; Surely it will fall at last. Kind remembrancer, to thee Many a chearful thought I owe: Witness of mortality, Wise thro' thee my end I know; Warn'd by every pain I feel Of my dissolution near; Pleas'd the lessening hours I tell: Quickly shall the last be here. Sacred, salutary ill, Thee though foolish man miscall, Mingled by my Father's skill; Sweet as honey is the gall: Who beneath thy pressure groan, Chief of ills who reckon thee, Sin alas! They ne'er have known: Sin is perfect misery. Free from sin I soon shall live, Free from sin while here below, Only thou mayst still survive, 'Till the joys of heaven I know, Of my starry crown possest; All thy office then is o'er, When I gain the glorious rest, Pain and suffering are no more. Page 265 For One in Pain. Hymn II.48 And shall I, Lord, the cup decline So wisely mixt by love divine, And tasted first by thee! The bitter draught thou drankest up, And but this single, sacred drop Hast thou reserv'd for me. Lo! I receive it at thy hand, And bear by thy benign command The salutary pain; With thee to live I gladly die, And suffer here, above the sky With my dear Lord to reign. Here only can I shew my love, By suffering my obedience prove; But when thy heaven I share, I cannot mourn for Jesu's sake, I cannot there thy cup partake, I cannot suffer there. Full gladly then for thee I grieve, The honour of thy cross receive, And bless the happy load: Who would not in thy footsteps tread, Who would not bow like thee, his head, And sympathize with God! For One in Pain. Hymn III.49