Lo! I come with joy to do

Verse 1
Lo! I come with joy to do
The Master’s blessed will,
Him in outward works pursue,
And serve his pleasure still;
Faithful to my Lord’s commands,
I still would chuse the better part,
Serve with careful Martha’s hands,
And humble Mary’s heart.

Verse 2
Careful, without care, I am,
Nor feel my happy toil,
Kept in peace by Jesus’[1] name,
Supported by his smile:
Joyful thus my faith to shew,
I find his service my reward;
Every work I do below,
I do it to the Lord.

Verse 3
Thou, O Lord, in tender love
Dost all my burthens bear,
Lift my heart to things above,
And fix it ever there:
Calm on tumult’s wheel I sit,
Midst busy multitudes alone,
Sweetly waiting at thy feet,
Till all thy will be done.

Verse 4
To the desart, or the cell;
Let others blindly fly,
In this evil world I dwell,
Unhurt, unspotted, I:
Here I find an house of prayer,
To which I inwardly retire,
Walking unconcern’d in care,
And unconsum’d in fire.

Verse 5
Thou, O Lord, my portion art,
Before I hence remove,
Now my treasure and my heart
Is all laid up above;
Far above these earthly things
(While yet my hands are here employ’d)
Sees my soul the King of kings,
And freely talks with God.

Verse 6
O that all the art might know,
Of living thus to thee!
Find their heaven begun below,
And here thy goodness see:
Walk in all the works prepar’d
By thee to exercise their grace,
Till they gain their[2] full reward,
And see thy glorious face.

[1] Wesley changed “Jesus’” to “Jesu’s” in 1756.
[2] Wesley changed “their” to “the” in 1761.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: "For a Believer, in Worldly Business." Introduced in Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ (William Strahan, 1747). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 4 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869), page 214.
Publishing: Public Domain