By riches lawfully acquired

Verse 1
By riches lawfully acquir’d
The miserable owner’s vext,
Possest of all his heart desir’d,
Yet still incumbred and perplext,
Poor in abundance, he complains
Of wealth preserv’d by toil and cost,
And anxious to secure his gains
Regrets his peace forever lost.

Verse 2
Not such the riches of his grace
Which God hath to his people given:
Riches which at our wish increase,
Inlarge, and fill the heart with heaven:
Distributing, we find them grow,
Preserv’d, and multiplied by use,
Which we (who their true value know,
And always love) can never lose.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He thought within himself, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.'—[Luke 12,] v. 17.” 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 The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 209.
Publishing: Public Domain