Wesley Corpus

On thee for help I call, Without thy help I fall, Fall a final cast-away: O forbid, forbid it thou, Snatch me from the evil day, Save me, or I perish now. O that ev'n I might share, The blessings I declare, Taste the glorious gospel-grace, Rise from sin forever free, See in holiness thy face, Live by faith, and die in thee! O that the hour were come Which calls my spirit home! O that I my wish might have, Quietly lay down my head, Sink into an early grave, Now be numbred with the dead! Give me that second rest, And take me to thy breast: Only let me cease from sin, Then the welcome summons send: Bid me now be pure within, Bid my useless warfare end. A man of sin and strife I want no longer life: Heaven-ward all my hope aspires, Full of immortality, Page 314 Jesus, thee my soul requires, Gasps to be dissolv'd in thee. Yet do I this resign, Thy will be done, not mine: So I may but serve thy will, Lengthen out my wretched span, Let me bear my burthen still, Bear my sin, and drag my chain. Still let me preach thy word The prisoner of the Lord, Fully my commission prove, 'Till the perfect grace I feel, Saved and sanctified by love, Stamp'd with all thy Spirit's seal. Then, Lord, when pure in heart, O let me then depart, With my children see thy face (Children whom the Lord hath given) Take above the meanest place, Least of all the saints in heaven. After Preaching to the Newcastle Colliers. Hymn III.77 Who are these that come from far, Swifter than a flying cloud! Thick as flocking doves they are, Eager in pursuit of God: Trembling as the storm draws nigh, Hastning to their place of rest, See them to the windows fly, To the ark of Jesu's breast! 77The opening stanza of this hymn is based on Isaiah 60:8; Charles records the incident of preaching at Swalwell that spawned the poem in a journal letter for September 23, 1742. Manuscript precursors appear in MS Cheshunt, 49-50; MS Clarke, 55-56; and MS Shent, 137a. Page 315