Thursday, February 23, 2017

Charles Wesley Hymn on Effectual Calling: "Oh! For True Repentance!"

I was browsing through the 1866 Psalms and Hymns and noticed the hymn "Oh! For True Repentance" or "Oh! that I could repent" (first line) under the heading "Effectual Calling" (Gotta a love a hymnal that even has such a section!) in S. M. (Short Meter: 6.6.8.6):


It is not in the Trinity Hymnal. A little more looking indicates that it was written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) (see here). It bears interesting lyrics for the Methodist since it expresses human inability even to repent. "Strike with Thy love's resistless stroke" is a nice expression of irresistible grace/effectual calling. I was taken with the hymn given I am putting together a booklet with the sermons from last year's Keach Conference on "Effectual Calling" (chapter 10 of the 1689 confession). It looks like a hymn worth reviving.

JTR

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful