Wesley Corpus

Page 9 Hymn VI.15 Come then, thou prophet of the Lord, Thou great interpreter divine, Explain thine own transmitted word; To teach, and to inspire is thine, Thou only canst thyself reveal, Open the book, and loose the seal. Whate'er the antient prophets spoke Concerning thee, O Christ, make known, Sole subject of the sacred book, Thou fillest all, and thou alone; Yet there our Lord we cannot see, Unless thy Spirit lends16 the key. Now, Jesu, now the veil remove, The folly of our darken'd heart, Unfold the wonders of thy love, The knowledge of thyself impart; Our ear, our inmost soul we bow; Speak, Lord; thy servants hearken now. Make not as thou wouldst farther go, Our friend, and counsellor, and guide, But stay, the path of life to shew, Still with our souls vouchsafe t' abide, Constrain'd by thy own mercy stay, Nor leave us at our close of day. Come in, with thy disciples sit, Nor suffer us to ask in vain, Nourish us, Lord, with living meat, Our souls with heavenly bread sustain; Break to us now the mystic bread, And bid us on thy body feed. 15Manuscript precursors of this hymn appear in MS Cheshunt, 187-88; MS Clarke, 194-95; and MS Shent, 75a-75b. 16"Lends" changed to "lend" in 1748 edn. and in 1764 and later edns. Page 10 Honour the means ordain'd by thee, The great unbloody sacrifice, The deep tremendous mystery; Thyself in our inlighten'd eyes Now in the broken bread make known, And shew us thou art all our own. Hymn VII.17 "By the mystery of thy holy incarnation; by thy holy nativity and circumcision; by thy baptism, fasting, and temptation; by thine agony, and bloody sweat; by thy cross and passion; by thy precious death and burial; by thy glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, good Lord, deliver us." Litany. Jesu, shew us thy salvation, (In thy strength we strive with thee) By thy mystic incarnation, By thy pure nativity, Save us thou, our new-Creator, Into all our souls impart, Thy divine unsinning nature, Form thyself within our heart.