
Hymns · 1742
Lord, I believe Thy work of grace
Songwriter Charles Wesley
Made popular by John Wesley, Charles Wesley
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Verse 1
Lord, I believe, thy work of grace
Is perfect in the soul,
His heart is pure, who sees thy face, (Matt. 5:8)
His spirit is made whole.
Verse 2
From every sickness by thy word, (Matt. 8:6)
From every sore disease
Saved, and to perfect health restor’d, (Jer. 30:17)
To perfect holiness.
Verse 3
He walks in glorious liberty, (Gal. 5:1)
To sin entirely dead, (Rom. 6:11)
The truth, the Son hath made him free, (John 8:32)
And he is free indeed. (John 8:36)
Verse 4
He lives, when thou hast fully wrought
The work of faith with power, (II Thess. 1:11)
Upright in deed, and word, and thought
He lives, and sins no more. (John 5:14, John 8:11, I John 3:6-8, I John 5:18)
Verse 5
Throughout his soul thy glories shine,
His soul is all renew’d, (Rom. 12:2, Eph. 4:23)
And deck’d in righteousness divine, (Job 29:14, Psalm 132:9, Isa. 61:10)
And cloath’d, and fill’d with God. (Eph. 3:19, Gal. 3:27)
Verse 6
In spirit join’d, and one with thee, (I Cor. 6:17)
And purg’d from all his stains,
No wrinkle of infirmity,[1]
No spot of sin remains. (I John 1:7)
Verse 7
He knows thee now, as he is known, (I Cor. 13:12)
Thy fulness he receives, (John 1:16)
Flesh of thy flesh, bone of thy bone,
In thee he ever lives. (Acts 17:28)
Verse 8
This is the rest, the life, the peace,
Which all thy people prove,
Love is the bond of perfectness, (Col. 3:14)
And all their soul is love.
Verse 9
Thy people are all sanctified, (Heb. 13:12)
And thou shalt say to me,
“Thou art all fair, my love, my bride,
There is no spot in thee.” (Song of Solomon 4:7)
Verse 10
O joyful sound of gospel-grace!
Christ in me shall[2] appear, (Col. 1:27, Col. 3:4)
I, even I shall see his face, (I Cor. 13:12, Rev. 22:4)
I shall be holy here. (Eph. 1:4, Eph. 5:27, I Pet. 1:15-16)
Verse 11
I shall from every sin be free; (Rom. 6:7, 6:18, 6:22, 8:2)
(The word of God is sure)
Walk before him, and perfect be, (Gen. 17:1)
And pure as God is pure. (I John 3:3)
Verse 12
This heart shall be his constant home;
I hear his Spirit’s cry,
“Surely,” he saith, “I quickly come,” (Rev. 22:20)
He saith, and cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)
Verse 13
The God of truth himself hath sworn:
On him my soul relies,
My soul on wings of eagles borne, (Isa. 40:31)
Shall fly, and take the prize. (Phil. 3:4)
Verse 14
The glorious crown of righteousness (II Tim. 4:8)
To me reach’d out I view,
Conqueror thro’ him I soon shall seize, (Rom. 8:37)
And wear it as my due.
Verse 15
The promis’d land from Pisgah’s top, (Deut. 34:1)
I now exult to see,
My hope is full (O blessed hope!) (Tit. 2:13)
Of immortality. (I Cor. 15:53-54)
Verse 16
My flutt’ring spirit fatigues my breast,
And swells, and spreads abroad,
And pants for everlasting rest,
And struggles into God.
Verse 17
I feel, and know him now in part, (I Cor. 13:12)
His love my heart constrains,
Its near approach expands my heart,
And fills with pleasing pains.
Verse 18
He visits now the house of clay, (Gen. 2:7, II Cor. 5:1)
He shakes his future home,
O wouldst thou, Lord, on this glad day
Into thy temple come! (Mal. 3:1)
Verse 19
With me I know, I feel, thou art,
But this cannot suffice,
Unless thou plantest in my heart
A constant paradise.
Verse 20
My earth thou water’st from on high,
But make it all a pool;
Spring up, O well, I ever cry, (Num. 21:17)
Spring up within my soul.
Verse 21
Come, O my God, thyself reveal,
Fill all this mighty void,
Thou only canst my spirit fill:
Come, O my God, my God!
Verse 22
Fulfil, fulfil my large desires,
Large as infinity,
Give, give me all my soul requires,
All, all that is in thee!
[1] Footnote in the original: “* i.e. such infirmities as David speaks of, Ps. CIII. 3.”
[2] Wesley changed “in me shall” to “shall in me” in 1745.