Come hither, all who serve the Lord

Verse 1
Come hither all, who serve the Lord,
Who fear and tremble at his word, (Ps. 2:11, Isa. 66:2, Isa. 66:5)
Hear me his loving-kindness tell; (Ps. 40:10)
Hear what he for my soul hath done, (Ps. 66:16)
And look to prove it in your own;
Expect his promis’d love to feel.

Verse 2
Come hither, all ye slaves of sin, (John 8:34, Rom. 6:6, Rom. 6:16-22)
Ye beasts without, and fiends within, (Ps. 73:22, Eph. 2:2)
Glad tidings unto all I shew; (Isa. 52:7, Isa. 61:1, Luke 1:19, Luke 2:10, Luke 4:18, Luke 8:1, Acts 13:32, Rom. 10:15)
Jesus’s grace for all is free; (Isa. 55:1, Rom. 3:22-24, Rom. 5:18, Rev. 22:17)
Jesus’s grace hath found out me,
And now he offers it to you.

Verse 3
Dead in the midst of life I was; (Eph. 2:1, Col. 2:13, I Tim. 5:6)
Unconscious of my Eden’s loss, (Gen. 3:23-24, Rom. 5:12)
Long did I in the graves remain, (Ezek. 37:12)
A fallen spirit, dark, and void,
Unknowing, and unknown of God, (I Cor. 8:3, Gal. 4:8-9)
I felt not, for I hugg’d, my chain.

Verse 4
He call’d: I answer’d to his call, (Job 14:15)
Confess’d my state, and mourn’d my fall, (Ps. 32:5, Ps. 51:3, James 4:8-10)
And strove, and groan’d to be renew’d: (Ps. 51:10)
With gradual horror then I saw
The nature of the fiery law, (Deut. 33:2, Heb. 12:18-21)
But knew not then a Saviour’s blood. (Rom. 5:9, Eph. 1:7, Heb. 9:14, I Pet. 1:18-19)

Verse 5
For ten long, legal years I lay
An helpless, tho’ reluctant prey (Rom. 5:6)
To pride, and lust, and earth, and hell: (Rom. 7:14-15, Rom. 7:18-19, Eph. 2:3, I John 2:16)
Oft to repentance vain renew’d,
Self-confident for hours I stood,
And fell, and griev’d, and rose, and fell. (I Cor. 10:12)

Verse 6
I fasted, read, and work’d, and pray’d,
Call’d holy friendship to my aid,
And constant to the altar drew;
’Tis there, I cried, he must be found!
By vows, and new engagements bound,
All his commands I now shall do. (Ex. 19:8, Ex. 24:3)

Verse 7
Soon as the trying hour return’d,
I sunk before the foes I scorn’d,
My firm resolves did all expire:
Why hath the law of sin prevail’d?
Why have the bonds of duty fail’d? (Rom. 7:21-23)
Alas, the tow hath touch’d the fire. (Judges 16:9, Isa. 1:31)

Verse 8
Hardly at last I all gave o’er,
I sought to free myself no more,
Too weak to burst the fowler’s snare; (Ps. 91:3, Ps. 124:7, Prov. 6:5, II Tim. 2:26)
Baffled by twice ten thousand foils,
I ceas’d to struggle in the toils,
And yielded to a just despair. (Rom. 3:19, Rom. 7:24-25)

Verse 9
’Twas then my soul beheld from far
The glimmering of an orient star, (Num. 24:17, Matt. 2:2)
That pierc’d and chear’d my nature’s night; (II Pet. 1:19, Rev. 22:16)
Sweetly it dawn’d, and promis’d day, (Luke 1:78-79)
Sorrow, and sin it chas’d away, (Isa. 35:10, Isa. 51:11)
And open’d into glorious light. (Isa. 9:2, Matt. 4:16, II Cor. 4:6)

Verse 10
With other eyes I now could see
The Father reconcil’d to me, (Rom. 5:10, II Cor. 5:18-19)
Jesus the just had satisfied: (Isa. 53:11, I Pet. 3:18)
Jesus had made my sufferings his, (Isa. 53:4-5, Isa. 63:9, Matt. 8:17, I Pet. 2:24)
Jesus was now my righteousness; (Jer. 23:6, I Cor. 1:30, II Cor. 5:21)
Jesus for me had liv’d and died. (Rom. 5:8, Gal. 2:20)

Verse 11
From hence the Christian race I ran, (I Cor. 9:24, Heb. 12:1-2)
From hence the fight of faith began: (I Tim. 6:12, II Tim. 4:7)
O ’tis a good, but painful fight! (II Tim. 2:3)
When heaviness o’erwhelms the soul, (Ps. 119:28)
When clouds and darkness round me roll,
And hide the Saviour from my sight. (Lam. 3:44)

Verse 12
Convinc’d my work was but begun,
How did I strive, and grieve, and groan,
Half yielded, yet refus’d to yield!
Tempted to give my Saviour up,
Deny my Lord, abjure my hope, (Matt. 10:32-33, II Tim. 2:12)
And basely cast away my shield. (II Sam. 1:21, Eph. 6:16)

Verse 13
My enemies and friends were join’d,
God’s children with the world’s combin’d (Ps. 55:12-14)
To shake my confidence in God:
Strongly they urg’d me to disclaim
My weaker title to the Lamb,
My interest in th’ atoning blood. (I Pet. 1:18-19)

Verse 14
So frail, impure, and weak, could I
Presume for me he deign’d to die, (Rom. 5:8)
For me so cold, so void of love! (Matt. 24:12)
Jesu! They bid me thee resign,
They would not have me call thee mine, (Song of Solomon 2:16)
Till the whole power of faith I prove. (II Cor. 13:5)

Verse 15
What have I known since thee I knew!
What trials hast thou brought me thro’! (I Pet. 1:6-7)
Hardly I yet can credit give:
Surely, my soul, ’tis all a dream;
Saved as by fire (if sav’d) I seem, (I Cor. 3:15, Jude 1:23)
If still the life of grace I live!

Verse 16
What have I felt, while torn within,
Full of the energy of sin, (Rom. 7:5, Rom. 7:21-23, Gal. 5:17)
Horror to think, and death to tell! (Ps. 55:4-5)
The Prince of Darkness rul’d his hour, (Luke 22:53, Eph. 6:12)
Suffer’d to shew forth all his power,
And shake me o’er the mouth of hell. (Isa. 5:14)

Verse 17
But O! His tyranny is o’er!— (Col. 1:13-14, Heb. 2:14-15)
How shall my rescu’d soul adore
Thy strange, thy unexampled grace!
A brand pluck’d from the fire I am!— (Amos 4:11, Zech. 3:2)
O Saviour, help me to proclaim,
Help me to shew forth all thy praise. (Ps. 9:14, Ps. 51:15, Isa. 43:21, I Pet. 2:9)

Verse 18
Fain would I spread thro’ earth abroad
The goodness of my loving God, (Ps. 145:6-12)
And teach the world thy grace to prove.
Unutterably good thou art!
Read, Jesu, read my panting heart,
Thou seest it pants to break with love!

Verse 19
I only live to find thee there:
The mansion for thyself prepare, (John 14:23, Eph. 3:16-17)
In love anew my heart create: (Ps. 51:10, Ezek. 36:26-27)
The mighty change I long to feel:
For this my vehement soul stands still,
Restless—resign’d—for this I wait. (Ps. 62:1, Ps. 130:5-6)

Verse 20
I know, my struggling nought avails,
My strength, and foolish wisdom fails, (I Cor. 1:20)
Vain is my toil, and vain my rest: (Ps. 127:1-2)
Only before thy feet I lay,
The potter thou, and I the clay, (Isa. 64:8, Jer. 18:6, Rom. 9:20-21)
Thy will be done, thy will is best. (Matt. 6:10, Matt. 26:39, Matt. 26:42, Acts 21:14)

Verse 21
I need not urge my eager plea,
The blood of sprinkling speaks for me, (Heb. 10:19-22, Heb. 12:24, I Pet. 1:2)
Jesus for me vouchsafes t’ appear,
For me before the throne he stands, (Heb. 9:24)
Points to his side, and lifts his hands, (John 20:20, John 20:27, Zech. 13:6)
And shews that I am graven there! (Isa. 49:15-16)

Verse 22
Suffice it, Lord, I now believe: (Mark 9:24, John 9:38)
To thee my ransom’d soul I give,
Hide it, till all life’s storms be o’er: (Ps. 27:5, Ps. 32:7, Ps. 119:114)
O keep it safe against that day! (II Tim. 1:12, I Pet. 1:5)
Thou ever liv’st for me to pray: (Rom. 8:34, Heb. 7:25)
Thy prayer be heard, I ask no more. (Luke 22:32, John 17:9, John 17:11, Heb. 5:7)