Thou hast restrain’d my soul from sin

Verse 1
Thou hast restrain’d my soul from sin,
And still, O Lord, restrain,
Till, born of God, and pure within,
I cannot sin again:
I cannot thy good Spirit grieve,
Or take the tempter’s part,
Or basely to the creature cleave,
When thou hast all my heart.

Verse 2
O that it might this moment be,
O that I now could prove
The blest impossibility
Of trampling on thy love!
Instant for this thou hear’st me pray
With groans unspeakable,
O take the carnal mind away,
And empty me of hell.

Verse 3
Thy nature’s purity reveal,
And plant the heaven in me;
And now my gasping spirit fill
With love’s immensity:
The love which casts out fear and sin,
Which thou, my Jesus, art,
Bring with thy Father’s fulness in,
And take up all my heart.

Verse 4
Then shall I never more offend
My Saviour’s glorious eyes,
But walk with my indwelling friend,
Unspotted, to the skies;
Obtain th’ inheritance prepar’d
For all the sons of grace,
And find my full immense reward
In my Redeemer’s face.

Hymnal/Album: Introduced in Charles Wesley, Preparation for Death, in Several Hymns (London, 1772). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 7 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 373.
Publishing: Public Domain