1 Merciful God, to Thee we cry,
O think upon us, or we die
The ever-living death!
Lo! by a mighty tempest tossed,
Our ship without Thine aid is lost,
Lost in the gulf beneath.
2 The mariners are struck with fear,
And shudder at destruction near,
So high the billows swell;
Ready to o’erwhelm our shattered state,
Thy judgments fall with all their weight,
To crush us into hell.
3 Ah! wherefore is this evil come?
Show us, omniscient God, for whom
Thy plagues our Church befall:
Give, while we ask, a righteous lot,
And let the guilty soul be caught,
Who brings Thy curse on all.
4 With trembling awe we humbly pray,
Now, now the secret cause display
Of our calamity,
Whose sins have brought Thy judgments down!
Alas, my God, the cause I own,
The lot is fallen on me!
5 I am the man, the Jonas I,
For me the working waves run high,
For me the curse takes place;
I have increased the nation’s load,
I have called down the wrath of God
On all our helpless race.
6 With guilty unbelieving dread
Long have I from His presence fled,
And shunned the sight of Heaven;
In vain the pardoning God pursued,
I would not be by grace subdued,
I would not be forgiven.
7 I know the tempest roars for me,
Till I am cast into the sea,
Its rage can never cease:
Here then I to my doom submit,
Do with me as Thy will sees fit,
But give Thy people peace.
8 Save, Jesu, save the sinking ship,
And lo! I plunge into the deep
Of all Thy judgments here;
I fall beneath Thy threatenings, Lord,
But let my soul, at last restored,
Before Thy face appear.
9 Beneath Thine anger’s present weight
I sink, and only deprecate
Thy sorer wrath to come:
Give me at last in Thee a part,
And now, in mercy, now avert
The guilty nation’s doom.
10 O bid the angry waves subside,
Into a calm the tempest chide
By Thy supreme command:
Thou in our broken ship remain,
Till every soul the harbor gain,
And reach the heavenly land.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11450
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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