Charles Wesley
(1707-1788)
O joyful sound of gospel grace!
Christ shall in me appear;
I, even I, shall see His face,
I shall be holy here.1
This heart shall be His constant home;
I hear His Spirit’s cry,
“Surely,” He saith, “I quickly come,”
He saith, Who cannot lie.
The glorious crown of righteousness
To me reached out I view;
Conqueror through Him, I soon shall seize,
And wear it as my due.
The promised land, from Pisgah’s top,
I now exult to see;
My hope is full (O glorious hope!)
Of immortality.
He visits now the house of clay,
He shakes His future home;
O wouldst Thou, Lord, on this glad day,
Into Thy temple come!
With me, I know, I feel, Thou art;
But this cannot suffice,
Unless thou plantest in my heart
A constant paradise.
My earth Thou waterest from on high,
But make it all a pool;
Spring up, O well, I ever cry,
Spring up within my soul!
Come, O my God, Thyself reveal,
Fill all this mighty void;
Thou only canst my spirit fill:
Come, O my God, my God!
Fulfill, fulfill my large desires,
Large as infinity;
Give, give me all my soul requires,
All, all that is in Thee!
- The last couplet of this first stanza is quoted by Thomas Cook in Address to Seekers. ↩