In
the second part of his "Memoir" of his father published in the Wesleyan
Methodist Church's 'The Spectator' on 26th June, 1891, Thomas Rix's son,
Henry, wrote
"For
years past the first thing on rising, and the last before retiring, he
never failed to read his well-loved Bible..... Occasionally he would
read over some of the many hymns he used to delight in. Those he
loved most were:- No. 30, beginning with- 'Where shall my wondering soul....'
.... No. 38.... No. 189.... No. 616.... No. 224...."
The
words of these hymns are reproduced faithfully
here, showing also Wesley's categorisation of them:-
Describing the Goodness
of God
HYMN 30
1
Where shall my
wondering soul begin?
How shall I all
to heaven aspire?
A slave redeem'd
from death and sin,
A brand pluck'd
from eternal fire,
How shall I equal
triumphs raise,
Or sing my great
Deliverer's praise?
3
And shall I slight
my father's love?
Or basely fear
his gifts to own?
Unmindful of his
favours prove?
Shall I, the hallow'd
cross to shun,
Refuse his righteousness
to' impart,
By hiding it within
my heart?
5
Outcasts of men,
to you I call,
Harlots, and publicans,
and thieves!
He spreads his
arms to' embrace you all;
Sinners alone his
grace receives:
No need of him
the righteous have;
He came the lost
to seek and save.
7
For you the purple
current flow'd
In pardons from
his wounded side;
Languish'd for
you the' eternal God;
For you the Prince
of Glory died:
Believe, and all
your sin's forgiven;
Only believe, and
yours is heaven!
|
2
O how shall I the
goodness tell,
Father, which thou
to me hast show'd?
That I, a child
of wrath and hell,
I should be call'd
a child of God,
Should know, should
feel my sins forgiven,
Blest with this
antepast of heaven!
4
No: though the
ancient Dragon rage,
And call forth
all his host of war;
Though earth's
self-righteous sons engage;
Them, and their
god, alike I dare;
Jesus, the sinner's
Friend, proclaim;
Jesus to sinners
still the same.
6
Come, O my guilty
brethren, come,
Groaning beneath
your load of sin;
His bleeding heart
shall make you room,
His open side shall
take you in:
He calls you now,
invites you home;
Come, O my guilty
brethren, come!
|
Describing the Goodness
of God
HYMN 38
1
O God, of
good the' unfathom'd Sea!
Who would not give
his heart to thee?
Who would not love
thee with his might,
O Jesu, Lover of
mankind?
Who would not his
whole soul and mind,
With all his strength,
to thee unite?
3
Astonish'd at thy
frowning brow,
Earth, hell, and
heaven's strong pillars bow;
Terrible majesty
is thine!
Who then can that
vast love express,
Which bows thee
down to me, who less
Than nothing am,
till thou art mine!
5
Fountain of good,
all blessing flows
From thee; no want
thy fulness knows:
What but thyself
canst thou desire?
Yet, self-sufficient
as thou art,
Thou dost desire
my worthless heart:
This, only this,
dost thou require.
7
Hell's armies tremble
at thy nod,
And, trembling,
own the' Almighty God,
Sovereign of earth,
hell, air, and sky:
But who is this
that comes from far,
Whose garments
roll'd in blood appear?
'Tis God made man,
for man to die.
|
2
Thou shin'st with
everlasting rays:
Before the' insufferable
blaze
Angels with both
wings veil their eyes;
Yet, free as air
thy bounty streams
On all thy works;
thy mercy's beams
Diffusive, as thy
sun's, arise.
4
High throned on
heaven's eternal hill,
In number, weight,
and measure still
Thou sweetly orderest
all that is:
And yet thou deign'st
to come to me,
And guide my steps,
that I, with thee
Enthroned, may
reign in endless bliss.
6
Primeval Beauty!
in thy sight,
The first-born,
fairest sons of light
See all their brightest
glories fade:
What then to me
thine eyes could turn?
In sin conceived,
of woman born,
A worm, a leaf,
a blast, a shade!
8
O God, of
good the' unfathom'd Sea!
Who would not give
his heart to thee?
Who would not love
thee with his might,
O Jesu, Lover of
mankind?
Who would not his
whole soul and mind,
With all his strength,
to thee unite?
|
For Believers Rejoicing
HYMN 189
1
Now I have found
the ground wherein
Sure my soul's
anchor may remain:
The wounds of Jesus,
for my sin
Before the world's
foundation slain;
Whose mercy shall
unshaken stay,
When heaven and
earth are fled away.
3
O Love, thou bottomless
abyss!
My sins are swallow'd
up in thee;
Cover'd is my unrighteousness,
Nor spot of guilt
remains on me,
While Jesu's blood,
through earth and skies,
Mercy, free, boundless
mercy, cries!
5
Though waves and
storms go o'er my head,
Though strength,
and health, and friends be gone,
Though joys be
wither'd all and dead,
Though every comfort
be withdrawn;
On this my steadfast
soul relies:
Father, thy mercy
never dies.
|
2
Father, thine everlasting
grace
Our scanty thought
surpasses far:
Thy heart still
melts with tenderness;
Thy arms of love
still open are,
Returning sinners
to receive,
That mercy they
may taste and live.
4
With faith I plunge
me in this sea;
Here is my hope,
my joy, my rest;
Hither, when hell
assails, I flee;
I look into my
Saviour's breast;
Away, sad doubt,
and anxious fear!
Mercy is all that's
written there.
6
Fix'd on this ground
will I remain,
Though my heart
fail, and flesh decay;
This anchor shall
my soul sustain,
When earth's foundations
melt away;
Mercy's full power
I then shall prove,
Loved with an everlasting
love.
|
On the Incarnation,
Sufferings, Glory, and Work of Christ
HYMN 616
1
All ye that pass
by,
To Jesus draw nigh:
To you is it nothing
that Jesus should die?
Your ransom and
peace,
Your surety he
is;
Come, see if there
ever was sorrow like his.
3
He answer'd for
all;
O come at his call,
And low at his
cross with astonishment fall.
But lift up your
eyes
At Jesus's cries:
Impassive, he suffers;
immortal, he dies.
5
For you and for
me
He pray'd on the
tree:
The prayer is accepted,
the sinner is free.
That sinner am
I,
Who on Jesus rely,
And come for the
pardon God cannot deny.
7
His death is my
plea;
My Advocate see,
And hear the blood
speak that hath answer'd for me:
Acquitted I was
When he bled on
the cross;
And by losing his
life he hath carried my cause.
|
2
For what you have
done,
His blood must
atone:
The Father hath
punish'd for you his dear Son.
The Lord, in the
day
Of his anger, did
lay
Your sins on the
Lamb; and he bore them away.
4
He dies to atone
For sins not his
own;
Your debt he hath
paid, and your work he hath done.
Ye all may receive
The peace he did
leave,
Who made intercession,
"My Father, forgive!"
6
My pardon I claim;
For a sinner I
am;
A sinner believing
in Jesus's name.
He purchased the
grace
Which now I embrace:
O Father, thou
know'st he hath died in my place.
|
For Believers Rejoicing
HYMN 224
1
I'll praise my
Maker while I've breath;
And when my voice
is lost in death,
Praise shall employ
my nobler powers;
My days of praise
shall ne'er be past,
While life, and
thought, and being last,
Or immortality
endures.
3
The Lord pours
eye-sight on the blind;
The Lord supports
the fainting mind;
He sends the labouring
conscience peace;
He helps the stranger
in distress,
The widow, and
the fatherless,
And grants the
prisoner sweet release.
|
2
Happy the man whose
hopes rely
On Israel's God:
he made the sky,
And earth, and
seas, with all their train;
His truth for ever
stands secure;
He saves the' opprest,
he feeds the poor,
And none shall
find his promise vain.
4
I'll praise him
while he lends me breath;
And when my voice
is lost in death,
Praise shall employ
my nobler powers;
My days of praise
shall ne'er be past,
While life, and
thought, and being last,
Or immortality
endures.
|
|
Thomas
Rix's