Would God himself his people lead,
Intending to betray,
His people out of Egypt freed
With thirst and famine slay?
Our souls into this wilderness
Thou could’st not, Lord, allure,
By keeping back thy special grace
To make our ruin sure.
Would God Himself His people lead
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “Wherefore is this, that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us with thirst?”—[Exod.] xvii. 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 49.
Publishing: Public Domain