This was a new voice crying in the wilderness of dull religious mediocrity or of self-satisfied religious devotion, it was the clarion-cry of one that brought good tidings to the outcasts of Israel.
From the first the Methodists made their own experience the starting-point of their preaching. John Wesley desired no help from any who had not ‘the witness in himself.’ His itinerants must set to their seal that God is true. ‘We are witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost.’ This personal element, the testimony of the man who believed and therefore spoke, differentiated at once Methodist preaching from the cold impersonal moral essays of the parish church. But Methodist preaching would not have been what it was had John Wesley’s sermons rather than Charles Wesley’s hymns represented Methodism to the masses. John Wesley’s keen intellect held his deep religious fervour in check, but Charles took full advantage of the poet’s licence to say what was in his heart without reserve and without modifying explanations.
His hymns of invitation strike a new note. There is nothing to compare with them in earlier hymn-writers, and comparatively little in later. They are the battle-songs of an open-air preacher, and are borne on the wings of the tempest that raged aroundthe heroic little poet as he faced cheerily the rage or ridicule of the mob. His metres are bright and lilting, winning the ear of the simple and arresting the casual passer-by.
The mercy I feel To others I show,I set to my seal That Jesus is true:Ye all may find favour Who come at His call,O come to my Saviour, His grace is for all!
The mercy I feel To others I show,
I set to my seal That Jesus is true:
Ye all may find favour Who come at His call,
O come to my Saviour, His grace is for all!
O let me commend My Saviour to you,The publican’s Friend And Advocate too,For you He is pleading His merits and death,With God interceding For sinners beneath.
O let me commend My Saviour to you,
The publican’s Friend And Advocate too,
For you He is pleading His merits and death,
With God interceding For sinners beneath.
And again—
O all that pass by, To Jesus draw near;He utters a cry, Ye sinners, give ear!From hell to retrieve you, He spreads out His hands;Now, now to receive you, He graciously stands.
O all that pass by, To Jesus draw near;
He utters a cry, Ye sinners, give ear!
From hell to retrieve you, He spreads out His hands;
Now, now to receive you, He graciously stands.
Only a preacher, perhaps only an open-air preacher, could have written such hymns. They are not hymns of the oratory, of the class-room, or the village church; but of that vast cathedral whose roof is the blue vault of heaven; they are songs of Moorfields, of Kingswood, of Newcastle, and of Gwennap. Perhaps of all Wesley’s hymns these are the most characteristically Methodist. Comparatively few are to be found even yet in any but Methodist books, but in them they hold an unchallenged place, and belong to the whole Methodist family, which has had many a quarrel in Conference, has been many a time byschisms rent asunder, but has never faltered in its loyal and steadfast proclamation of the message of God’s everlasting love.
As a general rule each revision of a Nonconformist hymn-book renders it less distinctive of the denomination it represents, and this is, to some extent, true of the new Methodist hymn-book. It has lost the section with which Wesley’s book opened, ‘Exhorting and Entreating to Return to God,’ but it retains almost all the hymns. Modern writers have seldom succeeded in hymns of this type. A few, however, rank with the best of Charles Wesley’s, who himself never struck a note of yearning sympathy for the erring more true and tender than Faber in his ‘Come to Jesus.’
Souls of men! why will ye scatterLike a crowd of frightened sheep?Foolish hearts! why will ye wanderFrom a love so true and deep?
Souls of men! why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?
It is not one of the best signs of the times that hymns of invitation are now for the most part provided by American singers and are of the ephemeral class.
Faber’s exquisite lines, set side by side with such a hymn as Wesley’s
Ye neighbours and friends Of Jesus, draw near,
Ye neighbours and friends Of Jesus, draw near,
well illustrate the difference between the cheery, hopeful, out-door evangel of the Wesleys and the subdued earnestness of the pleading of the modernCatholic or Anglo-Catholic missioner. I do not suggest that the comparison is to the advantage or disadvantage of either, but only indicate the difference of the tone of the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century mission hymns. In our day evangelism has lost much of its novelty, and men are less hopeful than they were of the world’s conversion. To the first Methodists it seemed as though any triumph was possible to such a gospel as theirs, and their battle-songs were all songs of victory.
Wesley’s hymns enshrine the history as well as the doctrines of Methodism, and few studies in Methodist hymnology are more interesting than that of the geography of the hymn-book. As to the local setting of ‘Lo! on a narrow neck of land’ there has been much controversy, but it undoubtedly belongs to Jekyl Island, and not to the Land’s End. Charles Wesley wrote to Lady Oglethorpe from Jekyl Island in 1736—
‘Last evening I wandered to the north end of the island, and stood upon the narrow point which your ladyship will recall as there projecting into the ocean. The vastness of the watery waste, as compared with my standing place, called to mind the briefness of human life and the immensity of its consequences, and my surroundings inspired me to write the enclosed hymn, beginningLo! on a narrow neck of land,’Twixt two unbounded seas I stand—which, I trust, may pleasure your ladyship, weak and feebleas it is when compared with the songs of the sweet psalmist of Israel.’[142]
‘Last evening I wandered to the north end of the island, and stood upon the narrow point which your ladyship will recall as there projecting into the ocean. The vastness of the watery waste, as compared with my standing place, called to mind the briefness of human life and the immensity of its consequences, and my surroundings inspired me to write the enclosed hymn, beginning
Lo! on a narrow neck of land,’Twixt two unbounded seas I stand—
Lo! on a narrow neck of land,
’Twixt two unbounded seas I stand—
which, I trust, may pleasure your ladyship, weak and feebleas it is when compared with the songs of the sweet psalmist of Israel.’[142]
He did write a hymn at the Land’s End, but it is of quite a different type. It might have been written for St. Augustine of Canterbury on his landing at Ebbsfleet.
Come, Divine Immanuel, come,Take possession of Thy home,Now Thy mercy’s wings expand,Stretch throughout the happy land.[143]
Come, Divine Immanuel, come,
Take possession of Thy home,
Now Thy mercy’s wings expand,
Stretch throughout the happy land.[143]
The popular hymn
See how great a flame aspires,Kindled by a spark of grace!Jesu’s love the nations fires,Sets the kingdoms on a blaze—
See how great a flame aspires,
Kindled by a spark of grace!
Jesu’s love the nations fires,
Sets the kingdoms on a blaze—
tells of victory at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Glory to God, whose sovereign graceHath animated senseless stones;[144]
Glory to God, whose sovereign grace
Hath animated senseless stones;[144]
tells of triumph at Kingswood, whilst—
Worship, and thanks, and blessing,And strength ascribe to Jesus!
Worship, and thanks, and blessing,
And strength ascribe to Jesus!
is reminiscent of mobs at Walsall and Devizes.
The duty of a Methodist preacher was not simply to sow good seed broadcast, but to gather those who received the word into Societies, where they could be taught, trained, watched over. A large part of John Wesley’s itinerations were for the purpose of confirming and sifting the Societies. In many cases they might be described as Charles Wesley, who had an eye for the humorous side of people and things, describes the Newcastle converts, ‘a wild, loving, staring Society.’ But the converts who remained steadfast were soon led to an intelligent faith and a life of devotion such as is possible only to those who are taught by educated men or their pupils. The debt Methodism owes to Oxford culture is inestimable. The Wesleys were never discouraged by the ignorance of their hearers, but they were never content with it. They had profound faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a teacher, and prayed, like St. Paul for his simple-minded converts at Philippi, that love might abound in good sense and good taste.[145]
Him Prophet, and King, And Priest we proclaim,We triumph and sing Of Jesus’s name;Poor idiots[146]He teaches To show forth His praise,And tell of the riches Of Jesus’s grace.
Him Prophet, and King, And Priest we proclaim,
We triumph and sing Of Jesus’s name;
Poor idiots[146]He teaches To show forth His praise,
And tell of the riches Of Jesus’s grace.
No matter how dull The scholar whom HeTakes into His school, And gives him to see;A wonderful fashion Of teaching He hath,And wise to salvation He makes us through faith.
No matter how dull The scholar whom He
Takes into His school, And gives him to see;
A wonderful fashion Of teaching He hath,
And wise to salvation He makes us through faith.
To a generation brought up to regard Sankey’sSongs and Solosas the best possible hymns for mission-halls and open-air services, a study of Wesley’s hymns is a liberal education. For the most ignorant of the converts the hymns were the one and only means of culture. They could not read, much of the preaching must have been beyond their comprehension, but the hymns, read slowly, a line at a time, soon became familiar, and the favourite hymns sung over and over again in the house, the class-room, and the family circle, became a part of their very life. Methodist biography shows how the life and death of the saints has been cheered and sanctified by these spiritual songs.
The most important, and by far the largest, part of Wesley’sCollectionwas devoted to hymns of the Christian life.
It is divided into sections: For Believers Rejoicing, Fighting, Praying, Watching, Working, Suffering, Seeking for Full Redemption, Saved, Interceding for the World. It begins with his own translation of Johann Andreas Rothe’s great hymn
Now I have found the ground whereinSure my soul’s anchor may remain,The wounds of Jesus, for my sin,Before the world’s foundation slain;Whose mercy shall unshaken stay,When heaven and earth are fled away
Now I have found the ground wherein
Sure my soul’s anchor may remain,
The wounds of Jesus, for my sin,
Before the world’s foundation slain;
Whose mercy shall unshaken stay,
When heaven and earth are fled away
This is followed by his version of Zinzendorf’s hymn
Jesu, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress.
Jesu, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress.
After these Moravian hymns are a number of Charles Wesley’s, which celebrate the joys of believers, for ‘How should not he be glad, whom the glad tidings have reached?’[147]It is often difficult to understand John Wesley’s principle of classification, but in this section almost every hymn of the seventy-five is obviously well placed under the title ‘For Believers Rejoicing.’ The notes of thanksgiving are very varied, from the calm confidence of ‘Now I have found the ground’ to the simple songs written for him ‘that in God is merry,’ such as
O what shall I do My Saviour to praise,So faithful and true, So plenteous in grace,So strong to deliver, So good to redeemThe weakest believer That hangs upon Him!
O what shall I do My Saviour to praise,
So faithful and true, So plenteous in grace,
So strong to deliver, So good to redeem
The weakest believer That hangs upon Him!
and
My God, I am Thine, What a comfort divine,What a blessing to know That my Jesus is mine!
My God, I am Thine, What a comfort divine,
What a blessing to know That my Jesus is mine!
We cannot claim for these hymns that they introduce new songs to the Christian choir. Joy and gladness are common to all who have found salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Isaac Watts, Philip Doddridge, F. W. Faber, Frances Ridley Havergal, and many more have had ‘the high praises of God in theirmouth.’ From the days of the Hebrew psalmists until now the sense of infinite content which comes with the peace which passeth all understanding has been the theme of God’s singers. ‘He satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ Yet joyousness is a special characteristic of Methodist hymns, and especially of those which were written in the early days of the triumphs of the itinerant preachers. No hymns rise higher in their exultant rapture, none are more tenderly triumphant than the songs of Charles Wesley.
His Birthday hymn exhibits the happy enthusiasm of his evangelism.
My remnant of daysI spend in His praise,Who died the whole world to redeem;Be they many or few,My days are His due,And they all are devoted to Him.
My remnant of days
I spend in His praise,
Who died the whole world to redeem;
Be they many or few,
My days are His due,
And they all are devoted to Him.
In other hymns he expresses the same joy in living in calmer tones.
The winter’s night and summer’s dayGlide imperceptibly away,Too short to sing Thy praise;Too few we find the happy hours,And haste to join those heavenly powers,In everlasting lays.
The winter’s night and summer’s day
Glide imperceptibly away,
Too short to sing Thy praise;
Too few we find the happy hours,
And haste to join those heavenly powers,
In everlasting lays.
Bright and inspiring as these pieces are, they are in striking contrast with the hymns characteristic of minor religious movements, and justify John Wesley’s claimthat ‘in these hymns is no doggerel.’ That they are of unequal merit goes without saying, but it is remarkable how many of them are living hymns to-day. Religious feeling is no more healthy because it loves to pray for guidance ‘amid the encircling gloom,’ or to describe the hosts of the Church militant as ‘pilgrims of the night.’ A ‘sober standard of feeling’ must take into account that the darkness has passed and the true light now shineth.
Yet one who knows little of early Methodism would be surprised to find how ‘sober’ is the tone of most of the hymns provided for the people called Methodists. They are songs in which ‘calmly reverential joy’ is more often heard than ecstasy. It is instructive to turn from Mr. Lecky’s chapter on ‘The Religious Revival,’ in hisHistory of England in the Eighteenth Centuryto Wesley’s hymns. The uninstructed reader of Mr. Lecky would expect to find here the turbid, involved, hysterical expression of a morbid fanaticism, but he would search almost in vain for illustrations of that side of the Methodist Movement. It is true that both the Wesleys were perplexed by the physical effects of their preaching, and were afraid to treat them as mere manifestations of hysterical excitement. But they dealt with them as St. Paul dealt with somewhat similar phenomena at Corinth, and carefully avoided encouraging such painful and inconvenient interruptions of their services. The hymn-book makes no provision for the nervously excited, and has no compositions ofthe class characteristic of many ‘revivals’—such, for instance, as are found in Hugh Bourne’sHymns for Camp Meetings, Revivals, etc.The novelty, the directness of the preaching, and, no doubt, the lack of education of many of the preachers naturally led to indiscretion in many places, especially in the early days of the Revival; but it is fair to judge the Wesleys’ own standard of religious emotion by their hymns rather than by the extravagances of their least intelligent helpers.
Charles Wesley’s hymn, ‘For the Fear of God,’ is a good example of the attitude of soul he desired for himself and for Methodists generally.
God of all grace and majesty,Supremely great and good!If I have mercy[148]found with Thee,Through the atoning blood,The guard of all Thy mercies give,And to my pardon joinA fear lest I should ever grieveThe gracious Spirit divine.
God of all grace and majesty,
Supremely great and good!
If I have mercy[148]found with Thee,
Through the atoning blood,
The guard of all Thy mercies give,
And to my pardon join
A fear lest I should ever grieve
The gracious Spirit divine.
Rather I would in darkness mournThe absence of Thy peace,Than e’er by light irreverence turnThy grace to wantonness:Rather I would in painful aweBeneath Thine anger move,Than sin against the gospel lawOf liberty and love.
Rather I would in darkness mourn
The absence of Thy peace,
Than e’er by light irreverence turn
Thy grace to wantonness:
Rather I would in painful awe
Beneath Thine anger move,
Than sin against the gospel law
Of liberty and love.
But O! Thou wouldst not have me liveIn bondage, grief, or pain,Thou dost not take delight to grieveThe helpless sons of men;Thy will is my salvation, Lord;And let it now take place,And let me tremble at the wordOf reconciling grace.
But O! Thou wouldst not have me live
In bondage, grief, or pain,
Thou dost not take delight to grieve
The helpless sons of men;
Thy will is my salvation, Lord;
And let it now take place,
And let me tremble at the word
Of reconciling grace.
Still may I walk as in Thy sight,My strict observer see;And Thou by reverent love uniteMy child-like heart to Thee;Still let me, till my days are past,At Jesu’s feet abide,So shall He lift me up at last,And seat me by His side.
Still may I walk as in Thy sight,
My strict observer see;
And Thou by reverent love unite
My child-like heart to Thee;
Still let me, till my days are past,
At Jesu’s feet abide,
So shall He lift me up at last,
And seat me by His side.
Perhaps there are few hymns quite of this type, but the subdued and subduing sense of the fear of God pervades many of Charles Wesley’s poems. He dwells much on ‘the mystic joys of penitence,’ as in his brief meditation on Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ‘I will give you an heart of flesh.’
Let me, according to Thy word,A tender, contrite heart receive,Which grieves[149]for having grieved its LordAnd never can itself forgive;
Let me, according to Thy word,
A tender, contrite heart receive,
Which grieves[149]for having grieved its Lord
And never can itself forgive;
a verse which reminds one of Cardinal Newman’s saying that true penitence never forgives itself. This, however, is not what Charles Wesley meant, forhe of all Christian poets best understood how truly the pardoned prodigal might make merry and be glad when he was safe in his Father’s house once more.
Lift up Thy countenance serene,And let Thy happy childBehold, without a cloud between,The Godhead reconciled.
Lift up Thy countenance serene,
And let Thy happy child
Behold, without a cloud between,
The Godhead reconciled.
An important series of hymns—so important that it demands separate consideration—is that which is found in Sections vii.-ix. of the original hymn-book. They include nearly one hundred pieces, and from the days of John Wesley until the latest revision the section began with a hymn which is the most fitting introduction to the series, since it sets forth with great simplicity the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection. Familiar as this hymn is to Methodists, it is worth while to quote it in full here—
The thing my God doth hate,That I no more may do,Thy creature, Lord, again create,And all my soul renew;My soul shall then, like Thine,Abhor the thing unclean,And, sanctified by love divine,For ever cease from sin.
The thing my God doth hate,
That I no more may do,
Thy creature, Lord, again create,
And all my soul renew;
My soul shall then, like Thine,
Abhor the thing unclean,
And, sanctified by love divine,
For ever cease from sin.
That blessed law of Thine,Jesus, to me impart;The Spirit’s law of life divine,O write it in my heart!Implant it deep within,Whence it may ne’er remove,The law of liberty from sin,The perfect law of love.
That blessed law of Thine,
Jesus, to me impart;
The Spirit’s law of life divine,
O write it in my heart!
Implant it deep within,
Whence it may ne’er remove,
The law of liberty from sin,
The perfect law of love.
Thy nature be my law,Thy spotless sanctity,And sweetly every moment drawMy happy soul to Thee.Soul of my soul remain!Who didst for all fulfil,In me, O Lord, fulfil againThy heavenly Father’s will!
Thy nature be my law,
Thy spotless sanctity,
And sweetly every moment draw
My happy soul to Thee.
Soul of my soul remain!
Who didst for all fulfil,
In me, O Lord, fulfil again
Thy heavenly Father’s will!
This hymn is made up, as are many others, by joining together verses from theShort Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures. The first verse is suggested by Jer. xliv. 4: ‘Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.’ The second and third by Jer. xxxi. 33: ‘I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.’
Another peaceful and attractive hymn on the same subject is based on Heb. iv. 9: ‘There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.’ Charles Wesley wrote twenty-seven verses; John Wesley selected eight, these are reduced to six in theMethodist Hymn-book. I am inclined to think that a further abridgement would have been still wiser. The four verses which follow are a beautiful meditation on the text—
Lord, I believe a rest remainsTo all Thy people known,A rest where pure enjoyment reigns,And Thou art loved alone:
Lord, I believe a rest remains
To all Thy people known,
A rest where pure enjoyment reigns,
And Thou art loved alone:
A rest, where all our soul’s desireIs fixed on things above;Where fear, and sin, and grief expire,Cast out by perfect love.
A rest, where all our soul’s desire
Is fixed on things above;
Where fear, and sin, and grief expire,
Cast out by perfect love.
O that I now the rest might know,Believe, and enter in!Now, Saviour, now the power bestow,And let me cease from sin.
O that I now the rest might know,
Believe, and enter in!
Now, Saviour, now the power bestow,
And let me cease from sin.
Remove this hardness from my heart,This unbelief remove:To me the rest of faith impart,The Sabbath of Thy love.
Remove this hardness from my heart,
This unbelief remove:
To me the rest of faith impart,
The Sabbath of Thy love.
The doctrine of Entire Sanctification, as it was believed and taught by the Wesleys, is set forth in the hymn-book with emphasis, but the expressions are rarely open to serious objection, nearly every phrase having Scriptural precedent. In early days Charles Wesley had often prayed for death, believing that through its gate alone could he find entrance into ‘the land of rest from inbred sin.’ In one of his first hymns, published in 1739, he had written—
Fain would I leave this world below,Of pain and sin the dark abode,Where shadowy joy or solid woeAllures or tears me from my God;Doubtful and insecure of bliss,Since death alone confirms me His.[150]
Fain would I leave this world below,
Of pain and sin the dark abode,
Where shadowy joy or solid woe
Allures or tears me from my God;
Doubtful and insecure of bliss,
Since death alone confirms me His.[150]
But in later years he had outgrown this mood. John Wesley wroteNoagainst the last line of the stanza, and in his hymn-book gave—
Sincefaithalone confirms me His.
Sincefaithalone confirms me His.
The brothers taught that sanctification was progressive, yet might be ‘cut short in righteousness,’a phrase which they often quoted. In one of the hymns for those that wait for ‘full redemption,’[151]Charles Wesley writes—
Surely I have pardon found,Grace doth more than sin abound,God, I know, is pacified;Thou for me, for me hast died;But I cannot rest herein,All my nature still is sin,Comforted I will not beTill my soul is all like Thee.
Surely I have pardon found,
Grace doth more than sin abound,
God, I know, is pacified;
Thou for me, for me hast died;
But I cannot rest herein,
All my nature still is sin,
Comforted I will not be
Till my soul is all like Thee.
See my burdened, sin-sick soul,Give me faith, and make me whole!Finish Thy great work of grace,Cut it short in righteousness.Speak the second time, ‘Be clean!’Take away my inbred sin;Now the stumbling-block remove,Cast it out by perfect love.
See my burdened, sin-sick soul,
Give me faith, and make me whole!
Finish Thy great work of grace,
Cut it short in righteousness.
Speak the second time, ‘Be clean!’
Take away my inbred sin;
Now the stumbling-block remove,
Cast it out by perfect love.
This doctrine of what has been called ‘the second blessing’ is often met with in Charles Wesley, but he used expressions which John disapproved, and would not repeat in hisCollection, as in the second verse of the great hymn, ‘Love divine, all loves excelling,’ which reads—
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,Into every troubled breast;Let us all in Thee inherit,Let us find that second rest;Take away the power of sinning,Alpha and Omega be;End of faith as its beginning,Set our hearts at liberty.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast;
Let us all in Thee inherit,
Let us find that second rest;
Take away the power of sinning,
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
John Fletcher suggested that ‘power’ should be altered to ‘love.’
The Wesleys’ teaching concerning sanctification had an immense influence upon Methodist life and thought. ‘The pursuit of holiness,’ to use Dean Goulburn’s phrase, was the daily interest and delight of multitudes of devout souls. No doubt in many cases there was more or less of morbid introspection, but the rich treasury of Methodist biography witnesses to the saintliness of those who made the search for ‘full redemption,’ or, as they delighted to say, ‘perfect love,’ the one serious business of life.
Important and influential as this section of Wesley’sHymnsis, not many of the best are found here.[152]The finest are John Wesley’s translations from the German but only a few original compositions are of marked value. Some exceptions, indeed, must be made, notably—
Love divine, all loves excelling;
Love divine, all loves excelling;
and there are many verses inspired by that thirst of the soul ‘for God, yea, even for the living God,’ which is characteristic of no one Church or age, but of all elect souls restless till they find rest in Him. The varyingmoods of the seeker after God are impressively illustrated. Some of the hymns are of a solemn and even sombre type, while others are bright with assurance of the favour of God and the gladness of the redeemed. Here are a few verses from a
Come, Holy Ghost, all quickening fire!Come, and my hallowed heart inspire,Sprinkled with the atoning blood;Now to my soul Thyself reveal,Thy mighty working let me feel,And know that I am born of God.
Come, Holy Ghost, all quickening fire!
Come, and my hallowed heart inspire,
Sprinkled with the atoning blood;
Now to my soul Thyself reveal,
Thy mighty working let me feel,
And know that I am born of God.
Thy witness with my spirit bear,That God, my God, inhabits there;Thou, with the Father, and the Son,Eternal Light’s co-eval Beam;Be Christ in me, and I in Him,Till perfect we are made in one.
Thy witness with my spirit bear,
That God, my God, inhabits there;
Thou, with the Father, and the Son,
Eternal Light’s co-eval Beam;
Be Christ in me, and I in Him,
Till perfect we are made in one.
Let earth no more my heart divide,With Christ may I be crucified,To Thee with my whole soul aspire;Dead to the world and all its toys,Its idle pomp, and fading joys,Be thou alone my one desire!
Let earth no more my heart divide,
With Christ may I be crucified,
To Thee with my whole soul aspire;
Dead to the world and all its toys,
Its idle pomp, and fading joys,
Be thou alone my one desire!
Be Thou my joy, be Thou my dread;In battle cover Thou my head,Nor earth nor hell I then shall fear;I then shall turn my steady face,Want, pain, defy, enjoy disgrace,Glory in dissolution near.
Be Thou my joy, be Thou my dread;
In battle cover Thou my head,
Nor earth nor hell I then shall fear;
I then shall turn my steady face,
Want, pain, defy, enjoy disgrace,
Glory in dissolution near.
My will be swallowed up in Thee;Light in Thy light still may I see,Beholding Thee with open face;Called the full power of faith to prove,Let all my hallowed heart be love,And all my spotless life be praise.
My will be swallowed up in Thee;
Light in Thy light still may I see,
Beholding Thee with open face;
Called the full power of faith to prove,
Let all my hallowed heart be love,
And all my spotless life be praise.
Come, Holy Ghost, all-quickening fire,My consecrated heart inspire,Sprinkled with the atoning blood;Still to my soul Thyself reveal,Thy mighty working may I feel,And know that I am one with God!
Come, Holy Ghost, all-quickening fire,
My consecrated heart inspire,
Sprinkled with the atoning blood;
Still to my soul Thyself reveal,
Thy mighty working may I feel,
And know that I am one with God!
Of the other type two bright verses on 1 Chron. xxix. 5 are a good example—
Lord, in the strength of grace,With a glad heart and free,Myself, my residue of daysI consecrate to Thee.
Lord, in the strength of grace,
With a glad heart and free,
Myself, my residue of days
I consecrate to Thee.
Thy ransomed servant, IRestore to Thee Thine own,And, from this moment, live or dieTo serve my God alone.
Thy ransomed servant, I
Restore to Thee Thine own,
And, from this moment, live or die
To serve my God alone.
These two verses belong to the very extensive series of
Charles Wesley’s poetry is always sanctified by the word of God. In this regard he is unsurpassed, and I think unequalled, by any other writer. He thought and wrote in the language of the Bible, and constantly weaves into his hymns the words, phrases, incidentsof Holy Scripture. No one ‘spiritualized’ more boldly than he. Of this his most famous poem, ‘Wrestling Jacob,’ is the great example. Many other hymns illustrate the same power, e.g. this verse, which ‘spiritualizes’ Peter’s deliverance from prison—
Long my imprisoned spirit layFast bound in sin and nature’s night;Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;My chains fell off, my heart was free,I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
and this, which refers in the same fashion to the resurrection of Lazarus—
Buried in sin, Thy voice I hear,And burst the barriers of my tomb,In all the marks of death appear,Forth at Thy call, though bound, I come.
Buried in sin, Thy voice I hear,
And burst the barriers of my tomb,
In all the marks of death appear,
Forth at Thy call, though bound, I come.
His more formal paraphrases are often very fine, and are hymns of permanent worth. Such are—
None is like Jeshurun’s God (Deut. xxxiii. 26-29).
None is like Jeshurun’s God (Deut. xxxiii. 26-29).
Wherewith, O God, shall I draw near (Mic. vi. 6-8).
Wherewith, O God, shall I draw near (Mic. vi. 6-8).
Away my unbelieving fear (Hab. iii. 17, 18).
Away my unbelieving fear (Hab. iii. 17, 18).
Of course Charles Wesley wrote many Psalm-versions. Comparatively few are above the average, but there are some exceptions. Among these are the 48th—
Great is our redeeming Lord,In power, and truth, and grace.
Great is our redeeming Lord,
In power, and truth, and grace.
the 84th—
How lovely are Thy tents, O Lord!Where’er Thou choosest to recordThy name, or place Thy house of prayer,My soul outflies the angel-choir,And faints, o’erpowered with strong desire,To meet Thy special presence there.
How lovely are Thy tents, O Lord!
Where’er Thou choosest to record
Thy name, or place Thy house of prayer,
My soul outflies the angel-choir,
And faints, o’erpowered with strong desire,
To meet Thy special presence there.
the 121st—
To the hills I lift mine eyes,The everlasting hills.
To the hills I lift mine eyes,
The everlasting hills.
the 125th—
Who in the Lord confideAnd feel His sprinkled blood,In storms and hurricanes abide,Firm as the mount of God.
Who in the Lord confide
And feel His sprinkled blood,
In storms and hurricanes abide,
Firm as the mount of God.
Often only two or three verses can be taken from a long poem, as in Ps. iii.—
Thou, Lord, art a shield for me.[153]
Thou, Lord, art a shield for me.[153]
and Ps. ix.—
Thee will I praise with all my heart.
Thee will I praise with all my heart.
Here the whole psalm, as it appears in thePoetical Works, consists of fourteen verses, most of them impossible for singing in a Christian Church, but there are four good verses, especially this, with its tender trustfulness that the humble seeker must at length find his Saviour—
A helpless soul that looks to TheeIs sure at last Thy face to see,And all Thy goodness to partake;The sinner who for Thee doth grieve,And longs, and labours to believe,Thou never, never wilt forsake.[154]
A helpless soul that looks to Thee
Is sure at last Thy face to see,
And all Thy goodness to partake;
The sinner who for Thee doth grieve,
And longs, and labours to believe,
Thou never, never wilt forsake.[154]
The 23rd Psalm is also very beautiful, and is worthy to take its place amongst the many lovely renderings of this sweetest of the praises of Israel. I venture to quote the whole, as it is little known outside Wesleyan Methodism, and not too well known in our own Church. It is the 23rd Psalm read in the light of the tenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel.
Jesus the good Shepherd is;Jesus died the sheep to save;He is mine, and I am His;All I want in Him I have,Life, and health, and rest, and food,All the plenitude of God.
Jesus the good Shepherd is;
Jesus died the sheep to save;
He is mine, and I am His;
All I want in Him I have,
Life, and health, and rest, and food,
All the plenitude of God.
Jesus loves and guards His own;Me in verdant pastures feeds;Makes me quietly lie down,By the streams of comfort leads:Following Him where’er He goes,Silent joy my heart o’erflows.
Jesus loves and guards His own;
Me in verdant pastures feeds;
Makes me quietly lie down,
By the streams of comfort leads:
Following Him where’er He goes,
Silent joy my heart o’erflows.
He in sickness makes me whole,Guides into the paths of peace;He revives my fainting soul,Stablishes in righteousness;Who for me vouchsafed to die,Loves me still,—I know not why!
He in sickness makes me whole,
Guides into the paths of peace;
He revives my fainting soul,
Stablishes in righteousness;
Who for me vouchsafed to die,
Loves me still,—I know not why!
Unappalled by guilty fear,Through the mortal vale I go;My eternal Life is near;Thee my Life, in death I know;Bless Thy chastening, cheering rodDie into the arms of God!
Unappalled by guilty fear,
Through the mortal vale I go;
My eternal Life is near;
Thee my Life, in death I know;
Bless Thy chastening, cheering rod
Die into the arms of God!
Till that welcome hour I see,Thou before my foes dost feed;Bidd’st me sit and feast with Thee,Pour’st Thy oil upon my head;Giv’st me all I ask, and more,Mak’st my cup of joy run o’er.
Till that welcome hour I see,
Thou before my foes dost feed;
Bidd’st me sit and feast with Thee,
Pour’st Thy oil upon my head;
Giv’st me all I ask, and more,
Mak’st my cup of joy run o’er.
Love divine shall still embrace,Love shall keep me to the end;Surely all my happy daysI shall in Thy temple spend,Till I to Thy house remove,Thy eternal house above!
Love divine shall still embrace,
Love shall keep me to the end;
Surely all my happy days
I shall in Thy temple spend,
Till I to Thy house remove,
Thy eternal house above!
Dr. Watts’s ‘grand design’ in his version of the Psalter was ‘to teach’ the ‘author to speak like a Christian.’ Charles Wesley took St. Augustine’s view, that we ought to hear the voice of Christ in all the psalms. His version of Ps. xlv. is typical of his attitude toward the Psalter as a whole.
My heart is full of Christ, and longsIts glorious matter to declare!Of Him I make my loftier songs,I cannot from His praise forbear;My ready tongue makes haste to singThe beauties of my heavenly King.
My heart is full of Christ, and longs
Its glorious matter to declare!
Of Him I make my loftier songs,
I cannot from His praise forbear;
My ready tongue makes haste to sing
The beauties of my heavenly King.
In 1762 Charles Wesley took advantage of a time of physical weakness to write a large number of verses, forming a kind of running commentary on the Holy Scriptures. They are, for the most part, purely devotional; but the events of the time and, perhaps, of the day on which a poem was written are mirrored in some of the verses. In the preface he says—
Many of the thoughts are borrowed from Mr. Henry’sCommentary, Dr. Gell on thePentateuch, and Bengelius on theNew Testament. Several of the hymns are intended to prove, and several to guard, the doctrine of Christian Perfection. I durst not publish one without the other. In the latter sort I use some severity.
Many of the thoughts are borrowed from Mr. Henry’sCommentary, Dr. Gell on thePentateuch, and Bengelius on theNew Testament. Several of the hymns are intended to prove, and several to guard, the doctrine of Christian Perfection. I durst not publish one without the other. In the latter sort I use some severity.
On this point the brothers differed, and especially as to the method of treating those who discredited the doctrine by extravagance in teaching or by inconsistency of life.
TheShort Poemsaccount for the enormous number of Charles Wesley’s hymns. On the Old Testament he wrote 1,609, on the New Testament 3,491, a total of 5,100 poetical notes on the Holy Scripture. But very many consist of only one verse.[155]By skilful combination some very good hymns have been made, and in a few instances we come upon a complete hymn of great strength or beauty. Many of these are familiar in Methodist congregations, though probably few worshippers recognize the passages of Scripture which suggested the verses. The well-known hymn
A charge to keep I have,
A charge to keep I have,
is the poet’s meditation and prayer after reading Lev. viii. 35: ‘Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not.’ After reading Lev. vi. 13: ‘The fire shallever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out,’ he prays
O Thou who camest from aboveThe pure celestial fire to impart,Kindle a flame of sacred loveOn the mean altar of my heart!
O Thou who camest from above
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart!
There let it for Thy glory burnWith inextinguishable blaze;And trembling to its source return,In humble prayer and fervent praise.
There let it for Thy glory burn
With inextinguishable blaze;
And trembling to its source return,
In humble prayer and fervent praise.
On the words ‘merciful and gracious’ in Exod. xxxiv. 6 he comments
Mercy is Thy distinguished Name,And suits the sinner best.
Mercy is Thy distinguished Name,
And suits the sinner best.
On the twenty-ninth verse of the same chapter, ‘Moses wist not that his face shone,’ he writes
Thine image if Thou stamp on me,Let others, Lord, the brightness see,By me unseen, unknown.
Thine image if Thou stamp on me,
Let others, Lord, the brightness see,
By me unseen, unknown.
As these verses are buried in the last four volumes of thePoetical Works, I venture to quote a few others which have, I think, some special value, reminding one at times of Herbert or Crashaw.
‘The Lord went His way’ (Gen. xviii. 33).
‘The Lord went His way’ (Gen. xviii. 33).
Unwearied let us still requestBy instant prayer whate’er we want:The patriarch from asking ceased,Before the Almighty ceased to grant.
Unwearied let us still request
By instant prayer whate’er we want:
The patriarch from asking ceased,
Before the Almighty ceased to grant.
‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent’ (Exod. iv. 10).
‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent’ (Exod. iv. 10).
How ready is the man to goWhom God hath never sent!How timorous, diffident, and slowGod’s chosen instrument!Lord, if from Thee this mark I haveOf a true Messenger,By whom Thou wilt Thy people save,And let me always fear.
How ready is the man to go
Whom God hath never sent!
How timorous, diffident, and slow
God’s chosen instrument!
Lord, if from Thee this mark I have
Of a true Messenger,
By whom Thou wilt Thy people save,
And let me always fear.
Slow of speech and slower stillOf heart, alas! am I,Cannot utter what I feel,Or speak to the Most High:But I to my Brother look,Mighty both in word and deed:He my cause hath undertookAnd lives for me to plead.
Slow of speech and slower still
Of heart, alas! am I,
Cannot utter what I feel,
Or speak to the Most High:
But I to my Brother look,
Mighty both in word and deed:
He my cause hath undertook
And lives for me to plead.
‘Where hast thou gleaned to-day?’ (Ruth ii. 19).
‘Where hast thou gleaned to-day?’ (Ruth ii. 19).
At evening to myself I say,My soul, where hast thou gleaned to-day,Thy labours how bestowed?What hast thou rightly said or done?What grace attained or knowledge won,In following after God?
At evening to myself I say,
My soul, where hast thou gleaned to-day,
Thy labours how bestowed?
What hast thou rightly said or done?
What grace attained or knowledge won,
In following after God?
‘Oh that I knew where I might find Him’ (Job xxxiii. 3).
‘Oh that I knew where I might find Him’ (Job xxxiii. 3).
Where but on yonder tree?Or if too rich thou art,Sink into poverty,And find Him in thine heart.
Where but on yonder tree?
Or if too rich thou art,
Sink into poverty,
And find Him in thine heart.
‘Israel served for a wife’ (Hos. xii. 12).
‘Israel served for a wife’ (Hos. xii. 12).
While Jacob for a wife doth wait,A length of servile years(His love to Rachel is so great)As a few days appears:And shall I think it long to stayOr wish my labours passed?A thousand years are but a dayIf Christ be mine at last.
While Jacob for a wife doth wait,
A length of servile years
(His love to Rachel is so great)
As a few days appears:
And shall I think it long to stay
Or wish my labours passed?
A thousand years are but a day
If Christ be mine at last.
These verses on Num. xi. 27, 28 are in a different strain.
Eldad, they said, and Medad there,Irregularly bold,By Moses uncommissioned dareA separate meeting hold!And still whom none, but Heaven, will own,Men whom the world decry,Men authorized by God alonePresume to prophesy!
Eldad, they said, and Medad there,
Irregularly bold,
By Moses uncommissioned dare
A separate meeting hold!
And still whom none, but Heaven, will own,
Men whom the world decry,
Men authorized by God alone
Presume to prophesy!
How often have I blindly doneWhat zealous Joshua did,Impatient to the rulers runAnd cried, ‘My lords, forbid!’Silence the schismatics; constrainTheirthoughtswith ours to agree;And sacrifice the souls of menTo idol unity!
How often have I blindly done
What zealous Joshua did,
Impatient to the rulers run
And cried, ‘My lords, forbid!’
Silence the schismatics; constrain
Theirthoughtswith ours to agree;
And sacrifice the souls of men
To idol unity!
John Wesley lets this pass without note or comment, but when, on Num. xvi. 10, Charles wrote
Raised from the people’s lowest lees,Guard, Lord, Thy preaching witnesses,Nor let their pride the honour claimOf sealing covenants in Thy name.
Raised from the people’s lowest lees,
Guard, Lord, Thy preaching witnesses,
Nor let their pride the honour claim
Of sealing covenants in Thy name.
he notes on the first line, ‘Query? J. W.’
Here our detailed consideration of Charles Wesley’s hymns must end, though there are many others over which one would be glad to linger. Some of the hymnson Death and the Future Life are of great power, though some have lost and others are losing their hold upon Methodist worshippers. Charles Wesley’s view of death is well illustrated in these verses, which I quote the more readily because, to my regret, they are not found in theMethodist Hymn-book. If they could not often be sung in the congregation, there are times when they would speak the inmost feeling of the devout disciple.