He trembles, but he cannot stay

Verse 1
He trembles; but he cannot stay,
And perfectly inquire the way
To scape the endless woe;
Convinc’d of his beloved crime;
Yet for a more convenient time,
He lets the present go.

Verse 2
Alarm’d in vain the truth he hears,
Repentance fatally defers,
And faith in Jesus’ name;
He waits, as life were in his power
Waits for a more convenient hour
Which never, never came.

Verse 3
Neglecting such a time as this,
What crouds of guilty souls will miss
The true celestial way,
(Who would not, when they might, repent)
And in eternal groans lament
Their damnable delay!

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.’—[Acts 24,] v. 25." This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” 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 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). 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. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 414.
Publishing: Public Domain