Urgent Pleadings

O that thou wouldst the heavens rend

Author: Charles Wesley
Published in 41 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Oh, that thou wouldst the heavens rend,
In majesty come down,
Stretch out thine arm omnipotent,
And seize me for thine own.

2 Descend, and let thy lightnings burn
The stubble of thy foe;
My sins o'erturn, o'erturn, o'erturn,
And make the mountains flow.

3 Thou my impetuous spirit guide,
And curb my headstrong will;
Thou only canst drive back the tide,
And bid the sun stand still.

4 What though I can not break my chain,
Or e'er throw off my load;
The things impossible to men,
Are possible to God.


Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #391

Author: Charles Wesley

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 >

Text Information

First Line: O that thou wouldst the heavens rend
Title: Urgent Pleadings
Author: Charles Wesley
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

O that Thou would'st the heavens rend. C. Wesley. [Prayer against the power of Evil.] Appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749, p. 79, in 17 stanzas of 4 lines (Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. i. p. 269). It has been broken up into parts thus:—
1. O that Thou would'st the heavens rend. Stanza i.-ix. in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 134. In the American Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849, stanzas i.-iv. are given as No. 376.
2. Jesus, Redeemer, Saviour, Lord. Stanzas x.-xvii. in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 135. In the American Meth. Epis. Hymns, 1849, No. 426 is composed of stanzas x.-xiii.
3. Almighty God, be Thou our Guide. Stanzas ill., iv., vi., viii., ix., slightly altered, in Holy Song for all Seasons. London, 1869.
4. Is there a thine too hard for Thee. Stanzas v.-ix. in the American Methodist Epis. Hymns, 1849, No. 377.
5. O Christ, Redeemer, Saviour, Lord. In Kennedy, 1863, is composed of stanzas x., xiii.-xvii. slightly altered.
In addition to these arrangements from this hymn another in 8 stanzas is sometimes met with in the Church of England collections. It opens with the first stanza of the original, but is distinguished from the arrangement in the Wesleyan Hymn Book as above, by the second stanza, which reads, "What tho’ I cannot break my chain." It first appeared in A. M. Toplady's Psalms & Hymns, 1776, No. 352, and is composed of stanzas i., iv., vi., vii., ix., xii., xv., xiii. in the Older named. A second cento in Toplady, 1776, No. 108, and beginning, "Jesus, Redeemer, Saviour, Lord," is composed of six stanzas from this hymn, and three (iv.-vi.) from C. Wesley's "Jesus, if still Thou art today." Also in later collections.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 41 of 41)

A Collection of Hymns Adapted to the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d454

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d631

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d634

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #d633

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A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #417

A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America #d272

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A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #376

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A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #68

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A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #68a

A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. with a Supplement #d460

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A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists, with a Supplement #138

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A Collection of Hymns #L135

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A Collection of Hymns #93b

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A Collection of Hymns #68a

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A Collection of Hymns #138

A Selection of Hymns ... Supplement to the Methodist Pocket Hymn Book. 1st ed #d206

Hymn Book of the Holiness Movement Church #d389

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #413

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #413

Hymns for the Use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Impr. ed. #d369

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Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. #376

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Hymns of the Higher Life #112

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Hymns of the Spirit #689

Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #d608

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Methodist Hymn-Book #311

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New Hymn and Tune book #123e

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New Hymn and Tune Book #123e

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Sacred Hymns and Tunes #177

The African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymn Book #d328

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The Chapel hymn book, with tunes #312

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The Heart and Voice #192c

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The Hymn Book of the African Methodist Episcopal Church #441

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The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #341

The Sacred Lyre #d213

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The Tribute of Praise and Methodist Protestant Hymn Book #252

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The Tribute of Praise #252

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The Tribute of Praise #252

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The Voice of Praise #391

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