If, taught of Him, I understand

Verse 1
If, taught of him, I understand
My Saviour’s most benign command,
I shall be fully blest;
True is the promise of my Lord,
The duty is its own reward,
And crown of all the rest.

Verse 2
“Ye shall be perfect” here below,
He spake it, and it must be so;
But first he said, “Be poor;
Hunger, and thirst, repent, and grieve,
In humble, meek obedience live,
And labour, and endure.”

Verse 3
Thus, thus may I the prize pursue,
And all th’ appointed paths pass thro’
To perfect poverty:
Thus let me, Lord, thyself attain,
And give thee up thine own again,
Forever lost in thee.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “Be ye perfect.”—(Ye shall be perfect, Gr.)—Matt. v. 48. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 173.
Publishing: Public Domain