Wesley Corpus

Page 6 11"To be" also italicized in 1756 edn. and following. 12"Earthy" changed to "earthly" in most edns. after 1755. 13"Host" changed to "hosts" in 1761 edn. only. 14"Our" changed to "your" in 1755 and 1768 edns. only. God th' invisible appears, God the blest, the great I AM Sojourns in this vale of tears, And Jesus is his name. Him the angels all ador'd Their Maker and their King: Tidings of their humbled Lord They now to mortals bring: Emptied of his majesty, Of his dazling glories shorn, Being's source begins to be,11 And God himself is BORN! See th' eternal Son of God A mortal Son of man, Dwelling in an earthy12 clod Whom heaven cannot contain! Stand amaz'd ye heavens at this! See the Lord of earth and skies! Humbled to the dust he is, And in a manger lies! We the sons of men rejoice, The Prince of Peace proclaim, With heaven's host13 lift up our14 voice, And shout Immanuel's name; Knees and hearts to him we bow; Of our flesh, and of our bone Jesus is our brother now, And God is all our own! Page 7 15"Lov'd" changed to "mild" in 2nd edn. (1745) and following. 16"Men" changed to "man" in 1778 edn. and following. Hymn V. Let earth and heaven combine, Angels and men agree To praise in songs divine Th' incarnate deity, Our God contracted to a span, Incomprehensibly made man. He laid his glory by, He wrap'd him in our clay, Unmark'd by human eye The latent Godhead lay; Infant of days he here became, And bore the lov'd15 Immanuel's name. See in that infant's face The depths of deity, And labour while ye gaze To sound the mystery: In vain; ye angels gaze no more, But fall, and silently adore. Unsearchable the love That hath the Saviour brought, The grace is far above Or men16 or angel's thought; Suffice for us, that God, we know, Our God is manifest below. Page 8 17In John's letter to Charles (26 Dec. 1761) he says of the Nativity Hymns: "Omit one or two of them, and I will thank you. They are namby-pambical." In his personal copy of the 1750 edn., John marks for such omission stanzas 3, 4 and 5 of this hymn. 18"Hosts" changed to "host" in 1766 edn. and following. 19"Is" changed to "was" in 1774-78 edns. only.