O Thou, who know’st what is in man,
Who search­est out the reins and heart,
Me, Je­su, to my­self ex­plain,
A ray of hea­ven­ly light im­part;
Impart Thy­self, Thou real light,
And ma­ni­fest my na­ture’s night.

Cause me, O God, my­self to know,
The depth of wick­ed­ness with­in,
Show me, my in­most sub­stance show,
Th’ex­ceed­ing sin­ful­ness of sin:
Such pow­er be­longs to Thee alone;
Show me that sin and I are one.

Senseless alike of sin and Thee,
My un­awak­ened soul re­mains
Fast bound in sin, and mi­se­ry;
I slum­ber on, nor feel my chains,
Nor taste nor see how good Thou art,
For still the veil is on my heart.

Oh! Might my heart at last re­lent,
And feel the guil­ty moun­tain-load.
Oh! That Thy pow­er­ful Word might rent
The veil, and let me in­to God;
The glo­ries of Thy face dis­play,
The bright­ness of eter­nal day!

I know the terms: I can­not see
Thy bliss­ful face, and live—in sin:
A flam­ing sword pre­serves the tree
Of life, lest self should en­ter in;
It keeps out self, and ev­ery way
It turns, the man of sin to slay.

Be it ac­cord­ing to Thy Word,
Ready to meet my doom I am.
Oh! Let me rush up­on that sword,
And feel the sin-con­sum­ing flame;
Live on­ly Christ in me, not I;
O let me see Thy face and die!

Die all of self to live no more,
Die the old man no more to rise;
Me to Thine im­age here re­store,
Receive me to Thy pa­ra­dise,
(Whence I may ne­ver more re­move)
The pa­ra­dise of per­fect love.