Wesley Corpus

Page 97 Trusting in thy faithful word We thine almighty arm employ, Slay them with thy Spirit's sword, And all our sins destroy. "Understand, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness." Deut. ix. 6. My merit, Lord, and righteousness I utterly disclaim, Whate'er I am, whate'er possess, By grace I have and am; By grace enabled, I receive Thy blessings from above, And wait, 'till Jesu's grace shall give The crown of perfect love. "Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness." Deut. ix. 7. Thou need'st the kind command repeat, So apt the sinner to forget His former trespasses: But lest I cast them still behind, Saviour, bring all my sins to mind, And on my heart impress. "From the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord." Deut. ix. 7. I now reflect with grief and shame, That since I out of Egypt came, I have rebellious been, Provok'd thee in the wilderness, And wearied out thy patient grace By adding sin to sin; Page 98 A rebel to this present hour! Yet now for all thy mercy's power I ask with contrite sighs To end my sin, but not my pain: I would lament till death,21 and then Rejoice22 in paradise. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee?" Deut. x. 12. What doth the Lord require of man? From sin if we can never cease, Or do the things his laws ordain, He asks impossibilities! But if thou ask them, Lord, from me, Impossibilities shall be. "What doth the Lord thy God require (Heb., request, intreat, petition) of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways." Deut. x. 12. May we not grant our God's request, And serve thee with an heart sincere, With thy prevenient Spirit blest, Inspir'd with thy ingenuous fear, And strengthen'd by sufficient grace To walk in all thy righteous ways! "What doth the Lord thy God request of thee, but to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord." Deut. x. 12, 13.