The kingdom rises from a grain

Verse 1
The kingdom rises from a grain
Into a tree by just degrees,
Our hasty nature to restrain,
To check our blindfold forwardness,
Which teaches God the when and how,
Which urges man Be perfect now!

Verse 2
Our darkest ignorance of pride,
Our unbelief, O Lord, remove,
Which sets thine oracles aside,
Thy words audacious to improve,
And spread at once the hallowing leaven,
And preach a shorter way to heaven.

Verse 3
O may I never teach my Lord,
Wise above what is written be!
Me by the method of thy word
Bring on to full maturity,
Save on, when Thou hast purg’d my guilt,
But save me when, and as Thou wilt.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed.’—Matt. 13, v. 31.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Matthew.” 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 1977/577, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), pages 28-29.
Publishing: Public Domain