Scripture Verse

The love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. Ephesians 3:19

Introduction

portrait
Henry Carey
1687–1743

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems (Bris­tol, Eng­land: Fe­lix Far­ley, 1742), pag­es 25–26.

Music: Car­ey’s Sur­rey Hen­ry Car­ey, 1723. Har­mo­ny from The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 491 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

O love, I languish at thy stay,
I pine for thee with lingering smart,
Weary, and faint through long delay,
When wilt thou come into my heart?
From sin and sorrow set me free,
And swallow up my soul in thee!

Come, O thou universal good,
Balm of the wounded conscience, come,
The hungry, dying spirit’s food,
The weary, wandering pilgrim’s home,
Haven to take the shipwrecked in,
My ev­er­last­ing rest from sin.

Be thou, O love, whatever I want,
Support my feebleness of mind,
Relieve the thirsty soul, the faint
Revive, illuminate the blind,
The mournful cheer, the drooping lead,
And heal the sick, and raise the dead.

Come, O my comfort and delight,
My strength and health, my shield and sun,
My boast, and confidence, and might,
My joy, my glo­ry, and my crown,
My Gos­pel hope, my calling’s prize,
My tree of life, my paradise.

The secret of the Lord thou art,
The mystery so long unknown,
Christ in a pure and perfect heart,
The name inscribed in the white stone,
The life divine, the little leaven,
My precious pearl, my present heaven.