4 Absent from thee, my Light,
Without one cheering ray,
Through dangers, fears, and gloomy night,
How desolate my way!

5 On this benighted heart
With beams of mercy shine;
And let thy voice again impart
A taste of joy divine.

Anne Steele, alt.

OW oft this wretched heart

H Has wandered from the Lord!

S. M.

How oft my roving thoughts depart,
Forgetful of his word!

2 Yet mercy calls, "Return;
Saviour, to thee I come:
My vile ingratitude I mourn;
O take the wanderer home.
3 Thy love so free, so sweet,
Blest Saviour, I adore;

O keep me at thy sacred feet,
And let me rove no more.

555

FIRST PART.

Anne Steele, alt.

The warning voice of Jesus.
RACIOUS Redeemer, shake
This slumber from my soul!

G This

Say to me now, "Awake, awake!

S. M.

And Christ shall make thee whole."

2 Lay to thy mighty hand;
Alarm me in this hour;
And make me fully understand
The thunder of thy power.
3 Give me on thee to call,
Always to watch and pray,
Lest I into temptation fall,
And cast my shield away.

4 For each assault prepared,
And ready may I be;
Forever standing on my guard,
And looking up to thee.
5 O do thou always warn
My soul of evil near;

When to the right or left I turn,
Thy voice still let me hear:
6 "Come back! this is the way;
Come back, and walk therein;
O may I hearken and obey,
And shun the paths of sin.

556 SECOND PART.

THOU

Charles Wesley.

S. M.

Commending the soul to God. HOU seest my feebleness; Jesus, be thou my power, My help and refuge in distress, My fortress and my tower.

2 Give me to trust in thee; Be thou my sure abode:

My horn, and rock, and buckler be, My Saviour and my God.

3 Myself I cannot save,

Myself I cannot keep,

But strength in thee I surely have, Whose eyelids never sleep.

4 My soul to thee alone,

Now therefore I commend:

Thou, Jesus, love me as thine own,

And love me to the end.

557

Restore my peace.

JESUS, full of grace,

Charles Wesley.

S. M.

To thee I make my moan: Let me again behold thy face, Call home thy banished one.

2 Again my pardon seal,
Again my soul restore,

And freely my backslidings heal,
And bid me sin no more.

3 Wilt thou not bid me rise?
Speak, and my soul shall live;
“ Forgive," my stricken spirit cries,
Abundantly forgive."

4 Thine utmost mercy show;
Say to my drooping soul,

"In peace and full assurance go;
Thy faith hath made thee whole."

558

Humility and contrition.

Charles Wesley.

7, 6, 8.

ESUS, let thy pitying eye
Call back a wandering sheep;
False to thee, like Peter, I

Would fain, like Peter, weep.
Let me be by grace restored;

On me be all long-suffering shown;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.

2 Saviour, Prince, enthroned above,
Repentance to impart,

Give me, through thy dying love,
The humble, contrite heart;
Give what I have long implored,
A portion of thy grief unknown;
Turn, and look upon me, Lord,
And break my heart of stone.
3 See me, Saviour, from above,
Nor suffer me to die;
Life, and happiness, and love
Drop from thy gracious eye:
Speak the reconciling word,

And let thy mercy melt me down;

Turn, and look upon me, Lord,

And break my heart of stone.

4 Look, as when thy languid eye Was closed that we might live; "Father," at the point to die

My Saviour prayed, "forgive!" Surely, with that dying word,

He turns, and looks, and cries, ""Tis done!"

O my bleeding, loving Lord,

Thou break'st my heart of stone!

559

Charles Wesley.

7, 6, 8. 7,6,

The deceitfulness of sin.

JESUS, Friend of sinners, hear
Yet once again, I pray;
From my debt of sin set clear,
For I have naught to pay:
Speak, O speak the kind release;
A poor backsliding soul restore;
Love me freely, seal my peace,
And bid me sin no more.

2 For my selfishness and pride
Thou hast withdrawn thy grace;
Left me long to wander wide,
An outcast from thy face;
But I now my sins confess,
And mercy, mercy, I implore;
Love me freely, seal my peace,
And bid me sin no more.
3 Sin's deceitfulness hath spread
A hardness o'er my heart;
But if thou thy Spirit shed,
The stony shall depart:
Shed thy love, thy tenderness,

And let me feel thy softening

power;

Love me freely, seal my peace,

And bid me sin no more.

Charles Wesley.

560

Zeal implored.

L. M.

0

THOU who all things canst control,
Chase this dread slumber from my soul;
With joy and fear, with love and awe,
Give me to keep thy perfect law.

2 O may one beam of thy blest light
Pierce through, dispel the shade of night:
Touch my cold breast with heavenly fire;
With holy, conquering zeal inspire.

3 For zeal I sigh, for zeal I pant;
Yet heavy is my soul, and faint:
With steps unwavering, undismayed,
Give me in all thy paths to tread.

4 With outstretched hands, and streaming eyes,
Oft I begin to grasp the prize;
I groan, I strive, I watch, I pray;
But ah! my zeal soon dies away.

5 The deadly slumber then I feel
Afresh upon my spirit steal:

Rise, Lord, stir up thy quickening power,
And wake me that I sleep no more.

561

0

From the German. Tr. by J. Wesley.

Peace in the favor of God.

L. M.

WHERE is now that glowing love
That marked our union with the Lord?
Our hearts were fixed on things above,
Nor could the world a joy afford.

2 Where is the zeal that led us then
To make our Saviour's glory known?
That freed us from the fear of men,
And kept our eye on him alone?
3 Where are the happy seasons, spent
In fellowship with him we loved?
The sacred joy, the sweet content,
The blessedness that then we proved?