Charles Wesley
(1707-1788)
Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?”
2 Samuel 7:18 KJV
And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, “Live”; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, “Live!”
Ezekiel 16:6 KJV
What am I, O Thou glorious God?
And what my father’s house to Thee,
That Thou such mercies hast bestowed
On me, the chief of sinners, me!
I take the blessing from above,
And wonder at thy boundless love.1
Me in my blood Thy love passed by,
And stopped, my ruin to retrieve;
Wept o’er my soul Thy pitying eye,
Thy bowels yearned, and sounded “Live!”
Dying, I heard the welcome sound,
And pardon in Thy mercy found.
Honor and might and thanks and praise
I render to my pardoning God,
Extol the riches of Thy grace,
And spread Thy saving name abroad,
That only name to sinners given
Which lifts poor dying worms to heaven.
Jesus, I bless Thy gracious power,
And all within me shouts Thy name;
Thy name let every soul adore,
Thy power let every tongue proclaim;
Thy grace let every sinner know,
And find with me their heaven below.
- The last couplet of this first stanza is quoted by Thomas Cook in Sanctifying Faith. ↩