1 Shepherd of souls, Thy sheep behold
In this dark, cloudy day,
The wolf is come into Thy fold,
To scatter, tear, and slay.
His bloody hand th’oppressor shakes
Against the faithful seed,
And havoc of Thy Church he makes—
He makes us as our Head.
2 Thy narks we in our bodies bear,
But arm us with Thy power,
The rage of fiends and men we dare,
And meet the evil hour.
They only can our bodies kill,
Our souls can never die;
Our souls exist in Jesus still,
And reign above the sky.
3 Wherefore the utmost sufferings here
Of those who Jesus love,
We count not worthy to compare
With our reward above.
Light are the pains we now endure,
And quickly over-past,
But of the pleasures they secure,
Eternally shall last.
4 On all th’affliction we look down,
The joy so far exceeds,
So bright, so weighty is the crown
It sets upon your heads.
O what a glorious life shall be
In us, ev’n us revealed,
While face to face our Lord we see,
With all His fullness filled.
5 Who would not then, for such a hope,
The path of sorrow tread,
And take his master’s burden up,
And suffer with his Head?
Who would not cheerfully sustain
A cross so light as this,
And bear a momentary pain
For an eternal bliss?
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11466
Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >
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