O Thou, to whom I would aspire

Verse 1
O Thou, to whom I woud aspire,
The nation’s Hope, the world’s Desire,
Mine eyes from earthly toys avert,
Restrain the wandrings of my heart,
Shut out the creatures from my view,
(They all are false, but Thou art true)
And let my soul’s attention be
For ever fixt, O Lord, on Thee.

Verse 2
O were the faith on me bestow’d
Which always sees a present God,
Which always brings divine supplies,
And power, and life that never dies!
Author of faith, infuse the grace
Display the glories of thy face,
And give mine inmost soul to prove
The largest life of heavenly love.

Verse 3
O vain, vain, vain all else beside
The knowledge of the Crucified!
Nothing I wish, or want to see
But Jesus bleeding on the tree:
This only sight my soul engross
My Lord expiring on the cross,
Till quicken’d by his death I rise,
And live his life above the skies.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity, and quicken thou me in thy law.’—[Ps.] 119:37.” This hymn appears in the 1783 manuscript “MS Scriptural Hymns.” 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 1977/576, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 9 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 328.
Publishing: Public Domain