Who is so great a God as ours, so near

Verse 1
Who is so great a God as ours,
So near with his redeeming powers,
So ready at his creature’s cry
To send deliverance from the sky,
To turn aside the ills we dread,
And all our largest hopes exceed!

Verse 2
Thou dost, in answer to our prayer,
A death-devoted victim spare:
Thou hast not, Lord, in wrath remov’d
A child too tenderly belov’d,
But still thine eye with pity sees
His parents’ life wrapt up in his.

Verse 3
Thy pity heard our softest tears,
And scatter’d all our griefs and fears,
The means thy mercy sanctified,
The balmy help thy love supplied,
And gives our joyful hearts to own
Thou dost the work, and thou alone.

Verse 4
Our Isaac on the altar laid
Receiving back as from the dead,
We offer up at mercy’s shrine
A living sacrifice divine:
And let him live to health restor’d,
The servant of his quick’ning Lord.

Verse 5
Saviour, inspire him with thy grace
From now to run the Christian race,
From now to seek the things above,
And pant for his Redeemer’s love,
’Till thou the heavenly bliss impart,
And spread thy kingdom thro’ his heart.

Verse 6
Long may he live to serve thy will
With humble persevering zeal,
To recompense our tenderest tears,
The stay of our declining years,
And close his happy parents’ eyes,
And trace us then to paradise.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “Thanksgiving for His Recovery.” Introduced in Hymns for the Use of Families, and on Various Occasions, published by Charles Wesley (Bristol: William Pine, 1767). 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 123.
Publishing: Public Domain