Thy previous grace, which now I feel

Verse 1
Thy previous grace, which now I feel,
To me mine unbelief hath shown,
Hath made my darkness visible;
And joyful in its cure begun,
A glimmering light my spirit sees,
And man beholds as walking trees.

Verse 2
As walking in a shadow vain
A world of sinners I perceive;
Joy they pursue, and sorrow gain,
In ignorance, like mine, they live,
Till justice stern the axe apply,
And then they fade, they fall, they die!

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He looked up and said, I see men as trees walking.’—[Mark 8,] v. 24.” 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. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 16.
Publishing: Public Domain