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06/27/2003 Entry: "more from the hymns of Charles Wesley"

This is another of my favourite hymns. "All" is one of Charles Wesley's "hallmark words" and usually he uses it to emphasise the breadth of God's grace. Here he gives it a different spin, repeating the word to draw out the completeness of our response. He reminds us powerfully that to be a disciple of Jesus is all or nothing. There is no part of our lives which will remain unchanged.(This is, I think, the original form of the hymn, though the first verse would have been repeated at the end. Modern hymnbooks tend to omit the second verse and amend the first line of the third to "If a sinner such as I". It's certain that Wesley would not have approved!)

FATHER, Son, and Holy Ghost,One in Three, and Three in One,As by the celestial host,Let thy will on earth be done;Praise by all to thee be given,Glorious Lord of earth and heaven!

Vilest of the sinful race,Lo! I answer to thy call;Meanest vessel of thy grace,Grace divinely free for all,Lo! I come to do thy will,All thy counsel to fulfil.

If so poor a worm as IMay to thy great glory live,All my actions sanctify,All my words and thoughts receive;Claim me for thy service, claimAll I have, and all I am.

Take my soul and body's powers;Take my memory, mind, and will,All my goods, and all my hours,All I know, and all I feel,All I think, or speak, or do;Take my heart; - but make it new!

Now, O God, thine own I am,Now I give thee back thine own;Freedom, friends, and health, and fame,Consecrate to thee alone:Thine I live, thrice happy I!Happier still if thine I die.