We bless thee, Saviour, for the grace
Which left thy deputies behind:
The poor on earth supply thy place,
That man may still to God be kind:
Our alms expecting to receive
The Head we in the members see;
And what to them we do, or give
We give, or do it, Lord, to Thee.
We bless Thee Saviour for the grace
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘The poor always ye have with you.’—[John 12,] v. 8." This hymn appears in the 1763-64 manuscript “MS John.” 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 1977/573, 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. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 485.
Publishing: Public Domain