Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship ‎#248

248. Wrestling Jacob

1. Come, O thou traveler unknown,
Whom still I hold, but cannot see!
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with thee;
With thee all night to stay
And wrestle till the break of day.

2. I need not tell thee who I am,
My misery or sin declare;
Thyself hast called 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. ’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue,
Or touch the hollow of my thigh:
Though every sinew were unstrung,
Out of my arms thou shalt not fly;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. ’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 passions move;
Thy nature and thy name is love.

10. My pray’r 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.

11. I know thee, Savior, 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.

12. The Sun of Righteousness on me
Hath rose, with healing in his wings;
Withered my nature’s strength; from thee
My soul its life and comfort brings;
My help is all laid up above;
Thy nature and thy name is love.

13. Contented now, upon my thigh
I halt, till life’s short journey end;
All helplesness, all weakness I,
On thee alone for strength depend,
Nor have I power from thee to move;
Thy nature and thy name is love.

14. 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.

Text Information

• First Line: Come, O thou traveler unknown
• Title: Wrestling Jacob
• Author: Charles Wesley (1742)
• Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 2024
• Scripture:
  Genesis 32:28
• Topic: Ordinary Time: Week 13
• Notes: Text by Charles Wesley, from Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742), alt.

Tune Information

• Name: WRESTLING JACOB
• Composer: Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1872)
• Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
• Incipit: 13523 2123
• Key: G Major or modal
• Notes: Tune WRESTLING JACOB composed by [Charles Wesley's] grandson, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, from The European Psalmist (1872).