Wesley Corpus

Jesus, guard thy gather'd sheep, Who thy voice begin to know, Day and night in safety keep, Help us after thee to go: Eyeing thee with fixt regard, By thy word and Spirit led, Walk we in the works prepar'd, Close in all thy footsteps tread. In thy pilgrimage with men, (Objects of thy constant care) Thou didst all their griefs sustain, Lab'ring, watching unto prayer: Page 134 Thou whole nights in prayer didst spend On the mount for us employ'd, Prompt the helpless to defend, Prevalent with man and God. By no private wants compell'd, Only love inspir'd thy breast, Love thy steady hands upheld, Love inforc'd the kind request: And shall we refuse to join, We who all the good receive, Reap the fruit of toil divine, By the prayer of Jesus live! Nay, but in thy strength we rise, Nightly to the mountain go, Breathe our wishes to the skies, For the sleeping crowd below; Pray, my watchful brethren, pray, Full of wants, and sins, and fears, Wrestle 'till the break of day, 'Till the saving grace appears. Jesus, hear our midnight cry, Execute thy love's design, Bring thy great salvation nigh, Claim a ransom'd world for thine, Take the purchase of thy blood, (Blood that speaks our sins forgiven) Let it bring us near to God, Let it pray us up to heaven! Hymns for the Watch-Night. Hymn XII. To thee, the true eternal light, At this awful noon of night, Page 135 Our longing souls ascend, For thee we watch, for thee we pray, And hasten to the joyful day, When all our toils shall end. The joyful day we soon shall see, With no sad obscurity Attended, or pursu'd, No dark eclipse shall intervene, Nor gloomy grief pollute the scene, Or stain the day of God. The day of God shall then be ours, Numbred with the angel-powers, And souls on earth forgiven, We in the New Jerusalem Shall all our happy mansions claim, The citizens of heaven. We all shall see the golden blaze Of that high and lofty place, And breathe the purpled air, It needs nor sun, nor candle's light, Divinely fair, divinely bright, For Christ the Lamb is there.