Jesus, we thy Promise claim

Verse 1
Jesus, we thy Promise claim,
We who touching This agree,
Grace to challenge in thy Name,
Peace, and perfect liberty,
Life for One Insensible,
Life for One Thou lov’st so well.

Verse 2
By the smooth Seducer’s skill,
By the cunning of the Foe,
Drawn to follow her own will,
Urged in nature’s paths to go,
Her we mourn, a Captive blind,
Casting all thy words behind.

Verse 3
Pains which might a Father aid,
Pains which first to Him she owes,
Corban call’d, with-held, delay’d,
Lo, on Others she bestows;
Comfort to his age denies,
Till he gives her up—and dies!

Verse 4
Deaf to his expiring prayers,
Unconcern’d his grief she sees,
Thus repays a Father’s cares,
Thus relieves his last distress,
Fixt to please herself alone,
Thus she hastes to be undone!

Verse 5
Who can stay her violence? who
Can arrest her as she flies?
Lord, we know not what to do,
But to Thee we lift our eyes:
Love, almighty Love Thou art;
Turn her disobedient heart.

Verse 6
Now with thorns hedge up her way,
From her fatal purpose hide,
Stop the unsuspicious Stray,
By thine eye the Wanderer guide,
Without pain (if that can be)
Bring her gently back to Thee.

Verse 7
From her eyes the Scales remove,
From her stubborn heart this Stone,
Taught by wisdom from above
That she may thy counsel own,
See the depths of hell laid bare
Scape the fiend’s or — snare!

Verse 8
Jesus, spoil him of his prey,
Her thy lawful Captive claim,
That with all thy Church we may
Magnify thy Saving Name;
Purchase dear of blood Divine
Seal her now for ever Thine.

Verse 9
To a father’s fond embrace
Both his Fugitives restore,
Wipe the sorrow from his face,
That he may thy hand adore;
That he may thy Goodness prove,
Give him back his former love.

Verse 10
Quench not the last spark of hope
In thine aged Servant’s heart,
But whene’er Thou call’st him up,
Bid him, Lord, in peace depart;
Bid his children live forgiven
Live, and follow him to heaven!

Hymnal/Album: This hymn appears in the 1786 manuscript “MS Helen Durbin.” 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 1977/583/26, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 4). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 3 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1992), pages 243-44.
Publishing: Public Domain