What tongue can fully tell

Representative Text

1 What tongue can fully tell
That Christian’s grievous load,
Who would do all things well,
And walk the ways of God,
But feels within foul envy lurk,
And lust, and work, engendering sin?

2 [Poor, wretched, worthless worm!
In what sad plight I stand!
When good I would perform,
Then evil is at hand.
My leprous soul is all unclean,
My heart obscene, my nature foul.]

3 To trust to Christ alone,
By thousand dangers scared,
And righteousness have none,
Is something very hard.
Whate’er men say, the needy know
It must be so, it is the way.

4 Thou all-sufficient Lamb,
God blest for evermore,
We glory in thy name,
For thine is all the power.
Stretch forth thy hand, and hold us fast,
Our First and Last, in thee we stand.

Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #313

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Author: J. Hart

Hart, Joseph, was born in London in 1712. His early life is involved in obscurity. His education was fairly good; and from the testimony of his brother-in-law, and successor in the ministry in Jewin Street, the Rev. John Hughes, "his civil calling was" for some time "that of a teacher of the learned languages." His early life, according to his own Experience which he prefaced to his Hymns, was a curious mixture of loose conduct, serious conviction of sin, and endeavours after amendment of life, and not until Whitsuntide, 1757, did he realize a permanent change, which was brought about mainly through his attending divine service at the Moravian Chapel, in Fetter Lane, London, and hearing a sermon on Rev. iii. 10. During the next two years ma… Go to person page >

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