Regardless now of things below

Verse 1
Regardless now of things below,
Jesus, to thee my heart aspires,
Determin’d thee alone to know,
Author, and end of my desires:
Fill me with righteousness divine;
To end, as to begin, is thine.

Verse 2
What is a worthless worm to thee?
What is in man thy grace to move?
That still thou seekest those who flee
The arms of thy pursuing love?
That still thy inmost bowels cry
“Why, sinner, will[1] thou perish, why?”

Verse 3
Ah show me, Lord, my depth of sin!
Ah, Lord, thy depth of mercy show!
End, Jesus, end this war within:
No rest my spirit e’er shall know,
Till thou thy quickning influence give:
Breathe, Lord, and these dry bones shall live.

Verse 4
There, there before the throne thou art,
The Lamb ere[2] earth’s foundations slain!
Take thou, O take this guilty heart;
Thy blood will wash out every stain:
No cross, no sufferings I decline;
Only let all my heart be thine!

[1] Wesley changed “wilt” to “will” in 1743.
[2] The first edition had a typo, “e’er,” changed to “ere” in later editions.

Hymnal/Album: Written by Maria Böhmer; adapted from the German by Charles Wesley. Introduced in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), published by John and Charles Wesley (London: William Strahan, 1740). 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 222.
Publishing: Public Domain