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CCXV

WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL

Come, O Thou Traveller unknown,

Whom still I hold, but cannot see,

My company before is gone,

And I am left alone with Thee;

With Thee all night I mean to stay,

And wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell Thee who I am,

My misery or sin declare;

Thyself hast call'd me by my name;

Look on Thy hands, and read it there!

But Who, I ask Thee, Who art Thou?

Tell me Thy Name, and tell me now.

173

In vain Thou strugglest to get free,

I never will unloose my hold;

Art Thou the Man that died for me?

The secret of Thy love unfold.

Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,

Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal

Thy new, unutterable Name?

Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell:

To know it now, resolved I am:

Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,

Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

What though my shrinking flesh complain,

And murmur to contend so long?

I rise superior to my pain;

When I am weak, then I am strong:

And when my all of strength shall fail,

I shall with the GOD-MAN prevail.

My strength is gone; my nature dies;

I sink beneath Thy weighty hand;

Faint to revive, and fall to rise;

I fall, and yet by faith I stand:

I stand, and will not let Thee go,

Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

Yield to me now, for I am weak,

But confident in self-despair;

Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,

Be conquer'd by my instant prayer!

Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move,--

And tell me, if Thy Name is Love?

--'Tis Love! 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me!

I hear Thy whisper in my heart!

The morning breaks, the shadows flee;

Pure universal Love Thou art!

To me, to all, Thy bowels move;

Thy Nature and Thy Name is Love!

My prayer hath power with GOD; the grace

Unspeakable I now receive;

Through faith I see Thee face to face,

I see Thee face to face, and live:

In vain I have not wept and strove;

Thy Nature and Thy Name is Love.

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I know Thee, Saviour, Who Thou art;

JESUS, the feeble sinner's Friend!

Nor wilt Thou with the night depart,

But stay, and love me to the end!

Thy mercies never shall remove--

Thy Nature and Thy Name is Love!

The Sun of Righteousness on me

Hath rose, with healing in His wings;

Wither'd my nature's strength, from Thee

My soul its life and succour brings;

My help is all laid up above;

Thy Nature, and Thy Name, is Love.

Contented now upon my thigh

I halt, till life's short journey end;

All helplessness, all weakness, I

On Thee alone for strength depend;

Nor have I power from Thee to move;

Thy Nature, and Thy Name, is Love.

Lame as I am, I take the prey,

Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o'ercome;

I leap for joy, pursue my way,

And as a bounding hart fly home--

Through all eternity to prove,

Thy Nature and Thy Name is Love!

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