O Filial Deity

Verse 1
O filial deity,
Accept my new-born cry!
See the travail of thy soul,
Saviour, and be satisfy’d;
Take me now, possess me whole,
Who for me, for me hast dy’d!

Verse 2
Of life thou art the tree,
My immortality!
Feed this tender branch of thine,
Ceaseless influence derive,
Thou the true, the heav’nly vine,
Grafted into thee I live.

Verse 3
Of life the fountain thou,
I know—I feel it now!
Faint and dead no more I droop:
Thou art in me: thy supplies
Ev’ry moment springing up
Into life eternal rise.

Verse 4
Thou the good shepherd art,
From thee I ne’er shall part:
Thou my keeper and my guide,
Make me still thy tender care,
Gently lead me by thy side,
Sweetly in thy bosom bear.

Verse 5
Thou art my daily bread;
O Christ, thou art my head:
Motion, virtue, strength to me,
Me thy living member flow;
Nourish’d I, and fed by thee,
Up to thee in all things grow.

Verse 6
Prophet, to me reveal
Thy Father’s perfect will.
Never mortal spake like thee,
Human prophet like divine;
Loud and strong their voices be,
Small and still and inward thine!

Verse 7
On thee my priest I call,
Thy blood aton’d for all.
Still the Lamb as slain appears,
Still thou stand’st before the throne,
Ever off’ring up my[1] pray’rs,
These presenting with thy own.

Verse 8
Jesu![2] Thou art my King,
From thee my strength I bring!
Shadow’d by thy mighty hand,
Saviour, who shall pluck me thence?
Faith supports, by faith I stand
Strong as thy omnipotence.

Verse 9
O filial deity,
Accept my new-born cry!
See the travail of thy soul,
Saviour, and be satisfy’d;
Take me now, possess me whole,
Who for me, for me hast dy’d!

[1] Wesley corrected an original typo, “thy,” to “my” in 1782.
[2] Wesley changed “Jesu!” to “Jesus” in 1761.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: "Hymn to the Son." 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 97.
Publishing: Public Domain