Calvinistic Methodists

GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT REDEEMER

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Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;

I will ever give to Thee.
Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:

Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!

About the writer: William Williams has been called “the Watts of Wales.” Born in 1717, his “awakening” was due to an open-air sermon by the famous Welsh preacher, Howell Harris. Williams received deacon’s orders in the Established Church but subsequently became a Calvinistic Methodist preacher. As an evangelistic preacher, he was popular and successful among the Welsh. He died in 1791.

Key Verse: The LORD guided them by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. That way they could travel whether it was day or night. –Exodus 13:21

RISE, MY SOUL, AND STRETCH THY WINGS

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Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings, thy better portion trace;
Rise from transitory things, towards heaven, thy destined place:
Sun and moon and stars decay, time shall soon this earth remove;
Rise, my soul, and haste away to seats prepared above.

Rivers to the ocean run, nor stay in all their course;
Fire ascending seeks the sun; both speed them to their source:
So my soul, derived from God, longs to view His glorious face,
Forward tends to His abode, to rest in His embrace.

Cease, ye pilgrims, cease to mourn, press onward to the prize;
Soon thy Savior will return, to take thee to the skies:
There is everlasting peace, rest, enduring rest, in heaven;
There will sorrow ever cease, and crowns of joy be given.

About the writer: Robert Seagrave was an English clergyman who was born in 1693 and graduated from Cambridge in 1718. He defended the Calvinistic Methodists and wrote and published pamphlets and sermons designed to reform the clergy and Church of England. While preaching at Lorimer’s Hall, London, he published a hymn book for the use of his congregation: Hymns for Christian Worship, 1742. To this book, he contributed 50 original hymns. The year of his death is not known.

Key Verse: There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. –John 14:2