Wesley Corpus

Never let me go, till I Upborn on wings of love, Gain the regions of the sky, And take my seat above, See thee by all heaven ador'd, And all thy glorious fulness know: Keep me, keep me, dearest Lord, And never let me go. Groaning for Redemption. Part I. O Jesu, still, still shall I groan Beneath the galling yoke of sin? Wilt thou not claim me for thy56 own, And speak the word, and make me clean? My load is more than I can bear: Where is the friend of sinners? Where? Is there no balm in thee to heal The anguish of a sin-sick soul? Dost thou not know the pangs I feel? Dost thou not see the billows roll? My soul is all a troubled sea, I cannot find my rest in thee. 56"Thy" changed to "thine" in 2nd edn. (1745) and following. Page 75 But wilt thou let thy foe devour And take me as his lawful prey? But must I sink beneath the power Of sin, and fall a castaway? Forbid it love! And save (if thou Art love indeed) O! Save me now! 'Tis not the punishment I dread, Harden'd I seem, and cannot fear Thy wrath abiding on my head, Or deprecate thy judgments near; But rescue me from Satan's power, Save me from sin, I ask no more. I ask not sensible delight, The joy and comfort of thy grace, Still let me want thy blissful sight, Let me go mourning all my days; With trembling awe thy ways adore; But save me, that I sin no more. Rather than suffer me to sin, Now, Lord, my spotted soul require: I know that I am all unclean, And thou a sin-consuming fire; I cannot now in heaven appear, Nothing unclean shall enter there. Yet now I chuse to breathe my last, Rather than turn to sin again, On thee my soul unchang'd I cast, And foul with every sinful stain, I plunge me in a sea unknown, Without thy57 utmost grace undone! Thou canst cut short the work, and heal The sinner in a moment's space; Be it58 according to thy will, I leave it to thy secret grace, I venture all on this last hour, And die, that I may sin no more. 57"Thy" changed to "thine" in 2nd edn. (1745) only. 58Ori., "But if"; corrected in errata.