When Thou hast disposed a heart

Verse 1
When Thou hast dispos’d an heart
Saving truth with joy to hear,
Utterance Lord Thou dost impart
To thy chosen messenger,
Then he finds the scripture-key
Then he speaks, and preaches Thee.

Verse 2
Jesus, in the sacred book
Thou art every where conceal’d:
There for Thee alone we look,
By thy Spirit’s light reveal’d,
Thee set forth before our eyes
Faith in every page espies.

Verse 3
Thee we preach to sinful men,
Urging them their Lord t’ embrace,
Pardon in thy blood to gain,
Hope for all thy promis’d grace,
Glad in all thy footsteps move,
Grasp the crown of heavenly love.

Verse 4
Thou the Saviour of mankind,
Thou the whole Salvation art,
All summ’d up in Thee I find,
All contain’d within my heart;
None but Christ on earth I know,
None but Christ to others show.

Verse 5
O that all mankind were fill’d
With the knowledge of the Lamb
Conscious all of God reveal’d,
All baptiz’d into his name,
Every soul with love o’reflow’d
Wash’d and sav’d thro’ Jesus blood!

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.’—[Acts 8,] v. 35.” 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 229.
Publishing: Public Domain