Deprecating the Withdrawal of the Spirit. (494)
Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay,
Though I have done thee such despite,
Nor cast the sinner quite away,
Nor take thine everlasting flight.
2 Though I have steeled my stubborn heart,
And still shook off my guilty fears;
And vexed and urged, thee to depart,
For many long rebellious years.
3 Though I have most unfaithful been,
Of all whoe'er thy grace received!
Ten thousand times thy goodness seen;
Ten thousand times thy goodness grieved;
4 This only woe I deprecate;
This only plague I pray remove;
Nor leave me in my lost estate;
Nor curse me with this want of love.
5 Now, Lord, my weary soul release,
Upraise me with thy gracious hand,
And guide into thy perfect peace,
And bring me to the promised land.
Charles Wesley, 1749.