Wesley Corpus

Refrain my soul, and keep it low, Wean'd as a child from creature-good, Thee, only thee, resolv'd to know, My Jesus, and thy sprinkled blood: All other comforts I disdain, And more than all in thee I gain. Page 271 What are thy gifts, compar'd to thee! A beam from that bright-shining sun, A drop from that unfathom'd sea! Fountain of life, and love unknown, Into thy depths, O God, I fall: O God, thou art mine all in all. Hymns for Christian Friends. Hymn VII.74 See, Jesu, see that much lov'd soul, For whom thy pretious life was given, Haste to renew, and make him whole, And fill him now with all thy heaven. Now, Saviour, now (if after God I ask) the second gift impart, And shed thy glorious love abroad, And give him the pure sinless75 heart. Remove the stumbling-block within, The possible offence remove, Say to his soul, "Thou canst not sin, Forever sav'd by perfect love." Answer on him thine own request, Answer in us thy Spirit's groan, Speak him into thy people's rest, And tell his inmost soul 'tis done! When inbred sin is all destroy'd, Long let him here thy witness live, In love's angelic task employ'd, And free what he receives to give. 74Manuscript precursors of this hymn appear in MS Cheshunt, 77-78; MS Clarke, 85-87; and MS Shent, 146a-146b. 75John Wesley substituted "spotless" for "sinless" in manuscript in his personal copy of the 2nd edn. (1756). 76John Wesley crossed out this stanza in his personal copy of the 2nd edn. (1756). Page 272 Greatest of all O let him be, And ever in thy footsteps go, And gladly minister to thee, A servant of thy church below. Let him thro' thine almighty name A father in our Israel rise, Cherish the followers of the Lamb, And nurse them 'till they reach the skies. Thus may he still his faith approve, And make the lambs his tenderest care, The little ones that lisp thy love Delighted in his arms to bear. Jesu, fulfil his heart's desire, And gather in thy lambs and sheep, Bid them into thy fold retire, And far from sin and danger keep. Far from the world a place provide, Ev'n in this howling wilderness, And in thy sanctuary hide The vessels of thy perfect grace.