The Cyber Hymnal 1479. Father, I stretch my hands to Thee

The Cyber Hymnal‎#1479

Text:	Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee
Author:	Charles Wesley
Tune:	NAOMI
Arranger:	Lowell Mason
Composer:	Hans Nägeli, 1773-1836
Media:	MIDI file

1. Father, I stretch my hands to Thee,
No other help I know;
If Thou withdraw Thyself from me,
Ah! whither shall I go?

2. What did Thine only Son endure,
Before I drew my breath!
What pain, what labor, to secure
My soul from endless death!

3. O Jesus, could I this believe,
I now should feel Thy power;
Now my poor soul Thou wouldst retrieve,
Nor let me wait one hour.

4. Surely Thou canst not let me die;
O speak, and I shall live;
And here I will unwearied lie,
Till Thou Thy Spirit give.

5. Author of faith! to Thee I lift
My weary, longing eyes:
O let me now receive that gift!
My soul without it dies.

6. The worst of sinners would rejoice,
Could they but see Thy face:
O, let me hear Thy quickening voice,
And taste Thy pardoning grace.

Text Information
First Line:	Father, I stretch my hands to Thee
Title:	Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee
Author:	Charles Wesley
Meter:	CM
Language:	English
Source:	A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 1741
Notes:	This was the hymn John Downes gave out on Friday, November 4, 1774, when death seized him in West Street Chapel, London. Wesley took great pride in this preacher's mechanical genius, and in the portrait which Downes made of him. In the afternoon before his appointment, Downes said, 'I feel such a love to the people of West Street, that I would be content to die with them. I do not find myself very well; but I must be with them this evening.' His text was 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,' and great power attended the message; but when he had spoken for ten minutes his strength was gone, and he gave out the lines-- Father, I stretch my hands to Thee, No other help I know. His voice failed. He fell on his knees, as if he intended to pray, 'but he could not be heard.' The Preachers who were present raised him up and bore him to bed, where he soon breathed his last breath. He was only fifty-two. Telford, pp. 228-9. Alternate tunes: MORNING SONG, melody from The Kentucky Harmony, by Ananias Davisson, 1816, attributed by some to Elkanah K. Dare, 1782-1826; harmonized by Charles W. Douglas, 1867-1944; ST. OLIVES, from A Compilation of Genuine Church Music, by Joseph Funk (Winchester, Virginia: J. W. Hollis, 1832)

Media
Adobe Acrobat image:	Adobe Acrobat image (Cyber Hymnal)
MIDI file:	MIDI File (Cyber Hymnal)
Noteworthy Composer score:	Noteworthy Composer score (Cyber Hymnal)
XML score:	XML score

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