1 And will the Lord thus condescend
To visit sinful worms?
Thus at the door shall mercy stand
In all her winning forms?
2 Surprising grace!--and shall my heart
Unmoved and cold remain?
Has this hard rock no tender part?
Must mercy please in vain?
3 Shall Jesus for admission sue--
His charming voice unheard?
And this vile heart, his rightful due,
Remain for ever barred?
4 'Tis sin, alas! with tyrant power,
My heart hath long oppressed;
And crowds of traitors bar the door
Against the heavenly guest.
5 Ye dangerous inmates, hence depart:
Dear Saviour, enter in,
And guard the passage to my heart,
And keep out every sin.
Source: The Book of Worship #64
First Line: | And will the Lord thus condescend |
Title: | The Heavenly Guest |
Author: | Anne Steele |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
And will the Lord thus condescend? Anne Steele. [The Love of Christ]. First published in her Poems, 1760, vol. i. p. 67, in (5 stanzas of 4 lines, based on Rev. iii. 20, and entitled "The Heavenly Guest." In 1769 it was included in the Bristol Baptist Collection of Ash and Evans, and came thus into common use. It was also repeated in a new edition of the Poems, 1780, and in Sedgwick's reprint of her Hymns, 1863, p. 42. At the present time its use is mainly confined to America.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)