Wesley Corpus

Against Hope, Believing in Hope Source: Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), Part I Author: Charles Wesley (attributed) --- My humbled soul, when thou art near, In dust and ashes lyes: How shall a sinful worm appear, Or meet thy purer eyes! I loath myself, when God I see, And into nothing fall, Content, if thou exalted be, And Christ be all in all. Against Hope, Believing in Hope. My God! I know, I feel thee mine, And will not quit my claim, Till all I have be lost in thine, And all renew’d I am. I hold thee with a trembling hand, I will not let thee go, Till stedfastly by faith I stand, And all thy goodness know. When shall I see the welcome hour That plants my God in me! Spirit of health, and life, and power, And perfect liberty! Jesu, thy all-victorious love Shed in my heart abroad; Then shall my feet no longer rove Rooted and fixt in God. Love only can the conquest win, The strength of sin subdue, (Mine own unconquerable sin) And form my soul anew. Love can bow down the stubborn neck, The stone to flesh convert, Soften, and melt, and pierce, and break An adamantine heart. O! That in me the sacred fire Might now begin to glow, Burn up the dross of base desire, And make the mountains flow! O that it now from heaven might fall, And all my sins consume! Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call, Spirit of burning come! Refining fire, go through my heart, Illuminate my soul, Scatter thy life through every part, And sanctify the whole.