Absent from the sepulchre

Verse 1
Absent from the sepulchre
When we seek our Lord in vain,
In perplexity and fear
Will he let us long remain,
Leave us comfortless to mourn,
Never to our souls return?

Verse 2
If he for a time withdraws,
Our fidelity to prove,
While we sorrow for his loss,
While we languish for his love,
Jesus will himself appear
Our eternal Comforter.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘As they were much perplexed, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.’—[Luke 24,] v. 4.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Luke.” 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 1977/575, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), pages 206-07.
Publishing: Public Domain