My God, (if I may call Thee mine)

Verse 1
My God (if I may call thee mine
From heav’n and thee remov’d so far)
Draw nigh; thy pitying ear incline,
And cast not out my languid pray’r.
Gently the weak thou lov’st to lead,
Thou lov’st to prop the feeble knee,
O break not then a bruised reed,
Nor quench the smoaking flax in me.

Verse 2
Buried in sin, thy voice I hear,
And burst the barriers of my tomb,
In all the marks of death appear,
Forth at thy call, tho’ bound, I come.
Give me, O give me fully, Lord,
Thy resurrection’s pow’r to know;
Free me indeed; repeat[1] the word,
And loose my bands, and let me go.

Verse 3
Fain would I go to thee my God,
Thy mercies and my wants to tell:
I feel my pardon seal’d in blood;
Saviour, thy love I wait to feel.
Freed from the pow’r of cancel’d sin;
When shall my soul triumphant prove?
Why breaks not out the fire within
In flames of joy and praise and love?

Verse 4
When shall my eye affect my heart,
Sweetly dissolv’d in gracious tears?
Ah, Lord, the stone to flesh convert!
And till thy lovely face appears,
Still may I at thy footstool keep,
And watch the smile of op’ning heav’n:
Much would I pray, and love, and weep;
I would; for I have much forgiv’n.

Verse 5
Yet O! Ten thousand lusts remain,
And vex my soul absolv’d from sin,
Still rebel nature strives to reign,
Still am I all unclean, unclean!
Assail’d by pride, allur’d by sense,
On earth the creatures court my stay;
False flatt’ring idols get ye hence,
Created good be far away!

Verse 6
Jesu, to thee my soul aspires,
Jesu, to thee I plight my vows,
Keep me from earthly base desires,
My God, my Saviour, and my spouse.
Fountain of all-sufficient bliss,
Thou art the good I seek below;
Fulness of joys in thee there is,
Without ’tis mis’ry all and woe.

Verse 7
Take this poor wandring, worthless heart,
Its wandrings all to thee are known,
May no false rival claim a part,
Nor sin disseize thee of thine own.
Stir up thy interposing pow’r,
Save me from sin, from idols save,
Snatch me from fierce temptation’s hour,
And hide, O hide me in the grave!

Verse 8
I know thou wilt accept me now,
I know my sins are now forgiv’n!
My head to death O let me bow,
Nor keep my life, to lose my heav’n.
Far from this snare my soul remove,
This only cup I would decline,
I deprecate a creature-love,
O take me, to secure me thine.

Verse 9
Or if thy wiser will ordain
The trial, I would die to shun,
Welcome the strife, the grief, the pain,
Thy name be prais’d, thy will be done!
I from thy hand the cup receive,
Meekly submit to thy decree,
Gladly for thee consent to live!
Thou, Lord, hast liv’d, hast died for me!

[1] Wesley changed “repeat” to “pronounce” in 1739 but reverted to “repeat” in later editions.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: "Justified, But Not Sanctified." This is the original version of this hymn, as first published in "Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739)," published by John and Charles Wesley (London: William Strahan, 1739). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 1 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1868), page 133.
Publishing: Public Domain