That silence of th’ eternal Word
Confounds our eagerness of pride,
Who will not imitate our Lord,
Or man’s unjust reproach abide:
With warm, self-vindicating zeal,
Impatient we throw off the blame,
Answer, reply, dispute, appeal,
And all, except ourselves, condemn.
That silence of the’ eternal word
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘But Jesus held his peace.’—[Matt. 26,] v. 63.” 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 411.
Publishing: Public Domain