WRESTLING JACOB
by: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
- OME, O Thou Traveller unknown,
- Whom still I hold, but cannot see,
- My company before is gone,
- And I am left alone with Thee.
- With Thee all night I mean to stay,
- And wrestle till the break of day.
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- I need not tell Thee who I am,
- My misery, or sin declare,
- Thyself hast call'd me by my name,
- Look on thy hands, and read it there,
- But who, I ask Thee, who art Thou?
- Tell me thy name, and tell me now.
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- In vain Thou strugglest to get free,
- I never will unloose my hold:
- Art Thou the Man that died for me?
- The secret of thy love unfold;
- Wrestling I will not let Thee go,
- Till I thy name, thy nature know.
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- 'Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue,
- Or touch the hollow of my thigh:
- Though every sinew be unstrung,
- Out of my arms Thou shalt not fly;
- Wrestling I will not let Thee go,
- Till I thy name, thy nature know.
-
- My strength is gone, my nature dies,
- I sink beneath thy weighty hand,
- Faint to revive, and fall to rise;
- I fall, and yet by faith I stand,
- I stand, and will not let Thee go,
- Till I thy name, thy nature know.
-
- Yield to me now--for I am weak;
- But confident in self-despair:
- Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
- Be conquer'd by my instant prayer,
- Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move,
- And tell me, if thy name is LOVE.
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- 'Tis Love, 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me,
- I hear thy whisper in my heart.
- The morning breaks, the shadows flee:
- Pure UNIVERSAL LOVE Thou art,
- To me, to all, thy bowels move,
- Thy nature, and thy name is LOVE.
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- Contented now upon my thigh
- I halt, till life's short journey end;
- All helplessness, all weakness I,
- On Thee alone for strength depend,
- Nor have I power, from Thee, to move;
- Thy nature, and thy name is LOVE.
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- Lame as I am, I take the prey,
- Hell, earth, and sin with ease o'ercome;
- I leap for joy, pursue my way,
- And as a bounding hart fly home,
- Thro' all eternity to prove
- Thy nature, and thy name is LOVE.
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POEMS BY CHARLES WESLEY |
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