Lord, I confess my sins to Thee

Verse 1
Lord, I confess my sins to thee,
My sins beyond expression great,
Fast bound in sin and misery,
My spirit faints beneath the weight,
And struggles to throw off the load,
But cannot, cannot come to God.

Verse 2
O how shall I the anguish bear
Of inbred sin’s envenom’d dart?
The mischief hence I cannot tear,
’Tis enter’d deep into my heart,
Its poison drinks my spirits up,
And quenches my last spark of hope.

Verse 3
O wretched man, what must I do?
I neither can resist nor fly;
Hell, earth, and sin my soul pursue,
I cannot find a[1] Saviour nigh:
Unhappy I shall one day fall,
Shall perish by the hand of Saul.

Verse 4
Me from perdition what can save!
Justly my God his help denies:
No evil I abhor, and have
No fear of God before my eyes;
Self-harden’d in my lost estate,
All sin I love, all good I hate.

Verse 5
Whither, ah whither shall I go?
The snares of death my soul surround,
The floods of wickedness o’erflow,
And desp’rate is my spirit’s wound,
The worm that never dies I feel,
Arrested by the pains of hell.

Verse 6
O could I but escape away,
And steal into the silent tomb,
Defraud the lion of his prey,
And at my latest hour o’ercome,
That hour I now would present have,
Would now rejoice to find a grave.

Verse 7
O God, behold my troubled breast,
Yet once again I thee implore,
Indulge me in my last request,
And let me die, and sin no more,
Now, let me now lay down my head,
From pain, and sin forever freed.

Verse 8
O God, regard my bitter cry,
I groan to be redeem’d from sin,
To thee I lift my weeping eye,
Open thy[2] arms, and take me in;
To thee my lab’ring soul I bow,
Require it, O require it now.

Verse 9
I know it is not now renew’d,
I am not fit thy face to see,
But trust, the virtue of thy blood
In my last hour shall work on me:
Some miracle of grace unknown,
Without a miracle undone.

Verse 10
My God, I cannot let thee go,
Without an answer to my prayer:
O tell me, that it shall be so,
I soon shall lose in death my care,
Where fiends and sins no more molest,
And weary spirits are at rest.

Verse 11
I doubt not, Lord, but there remains
A rest from sin and sorrow here,
Thy people here are freed from pains
From troubles, doubts, and guilt and fear.
But let me hence this moment fly,
Save me from sin, and let me die.

Verse 12
I only wait for this glad hour,
’Tis all my business here below,
Send down into my soul the power,
And let me die thy love to know,
Renew me, and withdraw my breath,
Give power o’re sin, and instant death.

[1] Wesley changed “a” to “my” in 1745.
[2] Wesley changed “thy” to “thine” in 1745.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: "Groaning for Redemption, Part I." Introduced in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742), published by John and Charles Wesley (London: William Strahan, 1742). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 2 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869), page 159.
Publishing: Public Domain