Wesley Corpus

Th' irreparable loss repair, Bind up the wound incurable, Snatch from the jaws of deep despair, And pluck the firebrand out of hell. 75Ori., "the pointed"; a misprint, corrected in 2nd edn. (1747) and following. Page 58 Lay to thy hand, almighty love, The work, O God, is worthy thee, Such huge destruction to remove, And save a soul so lost as me! Th' intolerable load sustain, Th' inextricable knot untie, Loose the indissoluble chain, And shew thyself the Lord most high. No opening door, no way to shun Th' inevitable death I see, Out of the deep I cry Undone! Undone to all eternity! No possibility of hope Angels or saints can ever shew, Unless th' Almighty lift me up, I sink into infernal woe. Nor can my desp'rate heart conceive How God himself should save so far: But humbly all to him I leave, If yet he will his power declare. Dying in sin, condemn'd, and lost, I cast me on a God unknown, And cry, while rend'ring up the ghost, Thy will, thy only will be done! Hymn XLVI. To: "Ah! Sister in Jesus, adieu." Still out of the deepest abyss Of trouble I mournfully cry, And pine to recover my peace, To see my Redeemer, and die: Page 59 I cannot, I cannot forbear These passionate longings for home: O when will my spirit be there? O when will the messenger come? Thy nature I long to put on, Thine image on earth to regain, And then in the grave to lay down My burthen of body and pain: O Jesus, in pity draw near, And lull me to sleep on thy breast, Appear, to my rescue appear, And gather me into thy rest. To take a poor fugitive in, The arms of thy mercy display, And give me to rest from all sin, And bear me triumphant away; Away from a world of distress, Away to the mansions above, The heaven of seeing thy face, The heaven of feeling thy love. Hymn XLVII. At the Hour of Retirement. To: "O for an heart to praise my God." Father, behold with gracious eyes The souls before thy throne, Who now present their sacrifice, And seek thee in thy Son. Well-pleas'd in him thyself declare, Thy pard'ning love reveal, The peaceful answer of our prayer To every conscience seal. Page 60