God of my l!fe, for Thee I pine

Verse 1
God of my life, for thee I pine,
For thee I chearfully decline,
And hasten to decay,
Summon’d to take my place above,
I hear the call, “Arise, my love,
My fair-one come away!”

Verse 2
Obedient to the voice of God,
I soon shall quit this earthly clod,
Shall lay my body down;
Th’ immortal principle aspires,
And swells my soul with strong desires
To grasp the starry crown.

Verse 3
The more the outward man decays,
The inner feels thy strengthning grace,
And knows that thou art mine:
Partaker of my glorious hope,
I here shall after thee wake up,
Shall in thine image shine.

Verse 4
Thou wilt not leave thy work undone,
But finish what thou hast begun,
Before I hence remove;
I shall be, Master, as thou art,
Holy, and meek, and pure in heart,
And perfected in love.

Verse 5
Thou wilt cut short thy work of grace,
And perfect in a babe thy praise,
And strength for me ordain,
Thy blood shall make me throughly clean,
And not one spot of inbred sin
Shall in my flesh remain.

Verse 6
Dear Lamb, if thou for me couldst die,
Thy love shall wholly sanctify,
Thy love shall seal me thine;
Thou wilt from me no more depart,
My all in life and death thou art,
Thou art forever mine.

Hymnal/Album: Introduced in Hymns and Sacred Poems Vol. 1, published by Charles Wesley (Bristol: Felix Farley, 1749).Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 5 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869), page 71.
Publishing: Public Domain