Thou wilt not crush the poor and weak

Verse 1
Thou wilt not crush the poor and weak,
Thy tender heart can never bear
A reed already bruis’d to break,
To plunge the fearful in despair,
Or aggravate a sinner’s load,
Or quench his faintest spark of good.

Verse 2
Rather thy loving Spirit divine
Shall raise the smoak into a flame,
Support this trembling soul of mine,
’Till strong I out of weakness am,
And as a spreading cedar rise,
Meet for the garden of the skies.

Verse 3
Bear with me then, most patient Lord,
(This smoaking flax, this bruised reed)
Accomplishing thy faithful word,
The heavenly light, the hidden seed
Bring forth, throughout my life to shine,
And prove thy righteousness divine.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoaking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.”—[Isa.] xlii. 3. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 1 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). 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 414.
Publishing: Public Domain