Th’ example which to man we owe
Surely there is a time to pay;
Then, only then ourselves we show,
To guide them in the heavenly way:
There is a time when urg’d by pride
We would th’ applause of man obtain;
We then should our own goodness hide,
To save ourselves from endless pain.
The’ example which to man we owe
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Appear not unto men to fast.’—Matt. 6, v. 18.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Matthew.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/577, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 185.
Publishing: Public Domain