Wesley, John and Charles

#832. When Satan Rules the Simple Heart [from Hymns on the Four Gospels]

1868

"The strong man arm'd this moment bind, / The bold usurper of Thy throne, / His armour seize, the carnal mind, / The unbelieving heart of stone, / Out of my flesh the evil tear, / And pluck my soul out of the snare."

832. When Satan Rules the Simple Heart

No man can enter into a strong man's house, &c.

--iii. 27.

When Satan rules the simple heart,
  Jesus alone can drive him thence:
Jesus, Thy Spirit's power exert,
  Bring in Thy love's omnipotence,
The fiend out of my soul to chase,
And plant Thy kingdom in its place.

The strong man arm'd this moment bind,
  The bold usurper of Thy throne,
His armour seize, the carnal mind,
  The unbelieving heart of stone,
Out of my flesh the evil tear,
And pluck my soul out of the snare.

My soul redeem'd from Satan's toils
  Now for Thy lawful captive claim,
Stir up Thy strength and take the spoils,
  Thy double property I am,
Mark'd with Thy name, the goods are Thine,
Thy work, and bought with blood Divine.

Animals::Hunting and Hawking::Snare Mineral::Stone Body::Armor

Text from The Poetical works of John and Charles Wesley, Ed. G. Osborn, 13 vols. (London: The Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1868). <Link to Hathi Trust>

More than 5,100 hymns written by Wesley for Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, with six books of material left (over 1,000 hymns) in manuscript. Unpublished were the hymns on the "Four Gospels and the Acts of Apostles."

07/12/2004

12/12/2009