Wesley Corpus

O God, take all my sins away! Instructed by thyself I pray, Spread forth my hands and heart; Its secret plague too well I know: Mercy on thy poor servant shew, And bid my sins depart. I turn to the true house of God, The temple for three days destroy'd, And then rais'd up to heaven: Father, regard that glorious shrine Fill'd with the plenitude divine, And speak my sins forgiven. "Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom." I. Kings x. 8. Meanest of that happy band Who in Jesu's presence stand, Page 169 O might I, e'en I appear, Wisdom self in Jesus hear! Humbly weeping at thy feet, Lord, I wait a look to meet, By a smile thy servant raise, Lift me up, to see thy face. "When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods." I. Kings xi. 4. On the first early dawn of grace Alas! Who can depend, When the wise monarch's youthful days In shameful dotage end! O never, Lord, my soul forsake, Nor let me rest secure Of heavenly bliss, 'till death shall make51 My perseverance sure. "Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the people." I. Kings xii. 31. But kings may spare their labour vain, For in such happy times as these The vulgar can themselves ordain, And priests commence, whoever please. "This thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth." I. Kings xiii. 34. Was it a sin in Nebat's son, A sin which all his house destroy'd, (What safely may by us be done) To make divine appointments void? Fearless of Jeroboam's fate Shall men without commission dare Priests from the croud to consecrate, And place them in th' apostle's chair? "Hide thyself." I. Kings xvii. 3. Me if thou in the desart hide, Or lay thy servant quite aside, 51John Wesley underlined "rest secure" in line 6 and "'till death" in line 7 of this stanza in his personal copy, commenting in the margin "Alas!"