The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book ‎#486

486. I want a principle within

1 I want a principle within,
Of jealous, godly fear;
A sensibility of sin,
A pain to feel it near;
I want the first approach to feel,
Of pride or loud desire;
To catch the wandering of my will,
And quench the kindling fire.

2 From thee that I no more may part,
No more thy goodness grieve,
The filial awe, the fleshly heart,
The tender conscience, give.
Quick as the apple of an eye,
O God, my conscious make;
Awake my soul when sin is nigh,
And keep it still awake.

3 If to the right or left I stray,
That moment, Lord, reprove;
And let me weep my life away
For having grieved thy love.
O, may the least omission pain
My well-instructed soul!
And drive me to the blood again
Which makes the wounded whole.

Text Information

• First Line: I want a principle within
• Author: Charles Wesley
• Publication Date: 1886
• Topic: The Christian: Hymns for Social Worship
• Notes: Public Domain.

Tune Information

• Name: MOUNT BETHEL
• Meter: C. M. D.
• Key: C Major
• Source: Arr. from Richter
• Notes: Now Public Domain. Alternate tunes: #83 or 484.