Long have I seem'd to serve Thee, Lord

Verse 1
Long have I seem’d to serve thee, Lord,
With unavailing pain;
Fasted, and pray’d, and read thy word,
And heard it preach’d, in vain.

Verse 2
Oft did I with th’ assembly join,
And near thine altar drew;
A form of godliness was mine,
The pow’r I never knew. (II Tim. 3:5)

Verse 3
To please thee thus (at last I see)
In vain I hoped, and strove:
For what are outward things to thee,
Unless they spring from love? (Gal. 5:6)

Verse 4
I see the perfect law requires (James 1:25, Ps. 19:7)
Truth in the inward parts, (Ps. 51:6)
Our full consent, our whole desires,
Our undivided hearts. (Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, Ps. 86:11)

Verse 5
But I of means have made my boast,
Of means an idol made, (Rom. 2:23, Phil. 3:4-7)
The spirit in the letter lost, (II Cor. 3:6, Rom. 7:6)
The substance in the shade. (Col. 2:16-17, Heb. 10:1)

Verse 6
I rested in the outward law,
Nor knew its deep design; (Rom. 2:17)
The length and breadth I never saw,
And heighth of love divine. (Eph. 3:17-19)

Verse 7
Where am I now, or what my hope?
What can my weakness do?
JESU! To thee my soul looks up, (Ps. 25:1)
’Tis thou must make it new. (Ps. 51:10, Ezek. 36:26)

Verse 8
Thine is the work, and thine alone—
But shall I idly stand? (Phil. 2:12-13)
Shall I the written rule disown,
And slight my God’s command? (Rom. 3:31)

Verse 9
Wildly shall I from thine turn back,
A better path to find;
Thy holy ordinance forsake,
And cast thy words behind? (Ps. 50:17,)

Verse 10
Forbid it, gracious Lord, that I
Should ever learn thee so! (Rom. 6:1-2)
No—let me with thy word comply,
If I thy love would know. (John 14:21, John 14:23, I John 2:3-5, John 14:15, I John 5:3)

Verse 11
Suffice for me, that thou, my Lord,
Hast bid me fast, and pray: (Matt. 17:21, Mark 9:29)
Thy will be done, thy name ador’d; (Matt. 6:9-10, Luke 11:2)
’Tis only mine t’ obey.

Verse 12
Thou bid’st me search the sacred leaves, (John 5:39, Acts 17:11)
And taste the hallow’d bread: (I Sam. 21:4-6, Matt. 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23, I Cor. 11:23-26)
The kind commands my soul receives,
And longs on thee to feed. (John 6:53-57)

Verse 13
Still for thy loving kindness, Lord,
I in thy temple wait, (Ps. 48:9)
I look to find thee in thy word, (Luke 24:27, John 5:39)
Or at thy table meet. (I Cor. 10:21, I Cor. 10:16-17, Matt. 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23, I Cor. 11:23-26)

Verse 14
Here, in thine own appointed ways,
I wait to learn thy will: (Ps. 25:4-5)
Silent I stand before thy face,
And hear thee say, “Be still!” (Ps. 46:10)

Verse 15
“Be still—and know that I am GOD!” (Ps. 46:10)
’Tis all I live to know, (John 17:3, Phil. 3:8, Phil. 3:10)
To feel the virtue of thy blood, (Matt. 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48)
And spread its praise below.

Verse 16
I wait my vigour to renew, (Isa. 40:31)
Thine image to retrieve,
The veil of outward things pass thro’, (II Cor. 3:13-18, Col. 3:10)
And gasp in thee to live. (Acts 17:28)

Verse 17
I work; and own the labour vain: (Ps. 127:1)
And thus from works I cease: (Heb. 4:10)
I strive and see my fruitless pain,
Till God create my peace.

Verse 18
Fruitless, till thou thyself impart,
Must all my efforts prove: (John 15:5)
They cannot change a sinful heart,
They cannot purchase love.

Verse 19
I do the thing thy laws enjoin,
And then the strife give o’er:
To thee I then the whole resign:
I trust in means no more. (Phil. 3:3-9)

Verse 20
I trust in him who stands between (I Tim. 2:5, Job 9:33)
The Father’s wrath and me: (Rom. 5:9)
JESU! Thou great eternal mean,
I look for all from thee.

Verse 21
Thy mercy pleads, thy truth requires,
Thy promise calls thee down:
Not for the sake of my desires—
But Oh! Regard thine own! (Ezek. 36:22-32)

Verse 22
I seek no motive out of thee:
Thine own desires fulfil: (Eph. 1:5, Eph. 1:9, Ezek. 36:22)
If now thy bowels yearn on me,
On me perform thy will. (Isa. 63:15, Jer. 31:20)

Verse 23
Doom, if thou canst, to endless pains,
And drive me from thy face:[1] (II Thess. 1:9, Matt. 25:41, Matt. 25:46)
But if thy stronger love constrains, (II Cor. 5:14)
Let me be sav’d by grace. (Eph. 2:5, Eph. 2:8-9, II Tim. 1:9)

[1] In his personal copy of a later edition, John Wesley marked for these words to be removed. Thomas Church objected to them in 1744, prompting a response from Wesley in two publications.