Wesley Corpus

Dispers'd the powers of darkness see: Thy mountain-sins which reach'd the skies Wide scatter'd by my breath shall be, As chaff before the whirlwind flies: Then shalt thou joyfully confess My utmost truth, my hallowing word, The Holy One of Israel praise, Lost in the glories of thy Lord. "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." Isa. xli. 17. Poor needy souls athirst and faint Who gasp for my redeeming love, I will supply their spirit's want, When blindly after me they rove, When in the barren wilderness Water they seek with fruitless care, Seek in the channels of my grace, Yet not one cooling drop is there. Page 338 Attentive to their feeblest cry, When fails for thirst their cleaving tongue, I mark them with a pitying eye, I hear their silence ask, "How long!" The Lord of hosts, the God of grace, I never will my people leave, But present in their last distress The long-expected blessing give. "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry-land springs of water, c." Isa. xli. 18, 19. Rivers of pure delight shall rise, And o'er the barren mountains flow, Fountains and streams of paradise Refresh the weary vale below: Water'd by me the desart-soul The garden of the Lord shall prove, Replenish'd as a wide-spread pool, Or spring of everlasting love. There in the smiling wilderness My fertilizing Spirit shall dwell, And plant the fair Elysian trees Whose leaves the sickly nations heal: The trees of righteousness shall grow, And flourish to their planter's praise, And all the heavenly virtues shew, And all the fruits of ripest grace. "That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." Isa. xli. 20. Dead souls I will anew create, To make my truth and mercy known, Restore them to their first estate, And perfect all my saints in one; Page 339 That sinners may my love confess, My favour and lost image find, Convinced, I sent my Son to bless, And save the whole apostate kind.