Hymns · 1762

A death-devoted race

Details

Hymnal / album Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2

Publisher Farley

Copyright Public Domain (Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. The publication year, if correct, suggests that this work may be in public domain in the U.S..)

Notes Originally titled “Why will ye die!”—[Ezek.] xviii. 31. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 53.

Scripture connections

References

Verses this song directly draws from

Ezekiel 18:31-32 Ezekiel 33:11

Allusions

Verses this song echoes or alludes to

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Isaiah 49:8 John 5:40 II Corinthians 6:2

Lyrics

Verse 1
A death-devoted race
If thou hast pass’d us by;
Excluded from thy heavenly grace,
We must for ever die: (Ezek. 18:31, Ezek. 33:11)
But not by thy decree;
(Who freely would’st forgive;)
We perish, Lord, in spite of thee,
Because we will not live. (John 5:40)

Verse 2
Yet, O most patient Lord,
Suffice the season past: (Isa. 49:8, II Cor. 6:2)
We hear the kind inviting word,
And turn to thee at last, (Ezek. 18:32)
The benefit embrace
To all so freely given,
And chuse in Christ the life of grace, (Deut. 30:19-20)
The glorious life of heaven.