Blest be the God whose tender care

Verse 1
Blest be the God, whose tender care
Prevents his children’s cry,
Whose pity providently near
Doth all our wants supply.

Verse 2
Blest be the God, whose bounty’s[1] store
These chearing gifts imparts;
Who veils in bread, the secret power
That feeds and glads our hearts.

Verse 3
Fountain of blessings, source of good,
To thee this strength we owe,
Thou art the virtue of our food,
Life of our life below.

Verse 4 When shall our souls regain the skies?
Thy heav’nly sweetness prove?
Fulness of joys shall there arise,[2]
And all our food be[3] love.

[1] Wesley changed “bounty’s” to “bounteous” in 1743.
[2] Wesley changed this line to “Where joys in all their fullness rise” in 1739.
[3] Wesley changed “be” to “is” in 1739.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: "Grace After Meat." This is the original version of this hymn, as first published in "Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739)," published by John and Charles Wesley (London: William Strahan, 1739). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 1 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1868), page 191.
Publishing: Public Domain