C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Jesu, My Strength, My Hope
By Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
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On thee I cast my care,
With humble confidence look up,
And know thou hear’st my prayer.
Give me on thee to wait,
Till I can all things do;
On thee, almighty to create,
Almighty to renew.
The promise is for me;
My succor and salvation, Lord,
Shall surely come from thee.
But let me still abide,
Nor from my hope remove,
Till thou my patient spirit guide
Into thy perfect love.
A self-renouncing will,
That tramples down and casts behind
The baits of pleasing ill;
A soul inured to pain,
To hardship, grief, and loss;
Bold to take up, firm to sustain
The consecrated Cross.
A quick discerning eye,
That looks to thee when sin is near,
And sees the Tempter fly;
A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard
And watching unto prayer.
To pray and never cease;
Never to murmur at thy stay,
Or wish my sufferings less:
This blessing above all,
Always to pray, I want;
Out of the deep on thee to call,
And never, never faint.
A single steady aim
(Unmoved by threatening or reward),
To thee and thy great name;
A jealous, just concern
For thine immortal praise;
A pure desire that all may learn
And glorify thy grace.
Thy pleasure to fulfill,
To know myself, and what thou art,
And what thy perfect will.
I want, I know not what;
I want my wants to see;
I want—alas, what want I not,
When thou art not in me!