What could earth and hell do more
Their prisoner to secure?
Let but a short night pass o’re,
And Peter’s death is sure:
Keepers, guards, and gates surround,
Yet cannot all effectual prove,
While one open way is found
Of rescue—from above.
What could earth and hell do more
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘And the keepers before the door kept the prison.’—[Acts 12,] v. 6.” This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” 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 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). 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. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 265.
Publishing: Public Domain