The bare external word
An human sower sows;
But our unseen, almighty Lord
The power, and grace bestows,
The soul’s attentive ear,
The persevering root,
The fertile ground, the heart sincere,
The growth, and perfect fruit.
The bare external word
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘The sower soweth the word.’—Mark 4, v. 14.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Mark.” 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 1977/574, 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 473.
Publishing: Public Domain