Evening star., 1915-01-30
Tbe Gpmortb league Disfussion.
1sp Robert u. Burbank.
Imo Beautiful poems in Our Bpmnals.
Bp Robert y. Burbank.
WRESTLING JACOB.
BY CHARLES WESLEY.

Nv RESTIl
e. BY CHAR
tome. o thou Traveller unknown.
Whom still hold. but cannot see;
My company before is gone
And am left alone with Thee;
With Thee all night I mean TO stay
And wrestle till the break Of day.
need not tell Thee who am
My sin and misery declare:
Thyself hast called inc by my name
Look Thy hands. and read it there:
But who. ] ask Thee. who art Thou:
Tell me Thy nsine and tell me now.
Ia vsin thou strusslest to get free.
never will unloose my hold:
Art Thou the man that died for me:
The secret of Thy love unfold.
Wrestling, will not let Thee CO.
TIN Thy name, Thy nature know.
Wit Thou not vet TO me reveal
Thy new. unuttcrablc uamef
Tell me. stin beseech Thee. tell:
70 know u resolved am:
Wrestling. ] Will not let Thee 60.
TIL Thy name, Thy nature know.
'ris all in vain to hold Thy tongue
Or touch the hollow of my thigh:
Though every sinew be unstruny.
Out OF my arms Thou shalt not fly.
Wrestling I will not let Thee 20,
TIL Thy name, Thy nature know.
whs, though my shrinking flesh complain.
And r,urmur to contend so long:
rise superior to my pain;
Nhcu i am weak then am strong:
And when my all of strength shall fail.
shall with the Goldman prevail.
My strength is gone. my nature dies:
j sinh hcncath Thy weighty hand:
Faint y revive and fail TO rise:
j fall. and yet by faith stand
stand. and will not let Thee go
Till Thy osIne, Thy nature know.
This hymn, part of which is omitted
in our hSmDal, is based on the story in
The thrty-second chapter Of Genesis.
The poet finds in the story of Jacob
who wrestled all night with the angel. the
Oretype OF this Christian experience.
Jacob was SO cunning and so smart that
ne overreached every one with whom he
ieat in a business way. He cheated his
brother, but he was not SO smart as he
thought he was going to be, for he had to
dee from his comfortable home and work
many years for a harsh master. With
his Overcoming, he finally made this
master so angry that he had to flee back
20 his brother. He was called the Sup
planter" The story of his wrestling with
The angel means the struggle he had to
overcome his greed and become Israel"
which means having power with Cod
Charles Wesley has been called the
poet of Methodism,' but this .designa-
tion is too narrow for HIM He might
more properly be called the poet of
Christendonl, for the entire Christian
world is indebted TO him for many of
place among English hymn writers
he has had but one competitor.
Hymnologists have sometimes insti-
tufed comparison between the hymns
of Wesley and those of Watts, some
giving the preference to one, and some
to the other, but we must remember
that these men were not rivals They
were too good, too great and too un-
like to be antagonists. They were both
princes of song. but each in his
realm. Watts great theme was divine
majesty. and 10 one approa aches him in
excellence upon this subject. Wesley's
grandest theme was love-the love of
God-and here he had no rival.
Charles Wesley was born in Enworth
England. December IS. 1907. He was
educated at Westminster School aAd
Oxford University, where he took his
degree in 112S. 1t was while a student
at Christ Church College that Wesley
and d few associates. by strict atten-
tion to duty and exemplary conduct,
won for themselves the derisive epi-
thet of "Methodists" He was or
dained a priest in the Church of Eng
land in 1875, and that same year he
sailed with his brother John as a mis-
sionary to Georgia, but soon returned
to England He was not converted,
Whitsunday, May Il, 1898. On that day
he received a conscious knowledge of
sins forgiven. and this event was the
real beginning of his mission as the
singer of Methodism. He tells his own
experience beautifully in the hymn be-
ginning:
And can it be that ] should gain
An interest in 10 ii:
Charles Wesley's hymns may be gen.
orally classified as follows: Hymns of
Christian experience 80 for Il Thousand
Tongues to Sing, is an example); in
vitation hymns (of which Come, Sill
ners to the Gospel Feast" is good speci-
men) :; sancuhcation hymns GO for a
Heart to Praise My Cod is one of them)
funeral hymns t"Rejoice for Brother De-
ceased'), and hymns on the love of God,
2 subject on which he never became
weary Wrestling Jacob represents the
last class But it is pre-eminently in por-
traying the various phases of expert
mental MISREPRESENTATION of sin, peni-
tence. saving faith. pardon. assurance, en-
tire sanctifcation-that Charles Wesley
is quite without a peer among hymn
writer's His songs. have been one of the
most potent forces in Methodism since its
organization.
Nor was he singer alone, but as an
ftinerant preacher he was q busy and
earnest co-laborer with his brother John
After his marriage, in 1749, his itinerant
1abors were largely restricted to London
and Bristol, He died March 2s. 1888.
After all" says DIR. John Julian, the
greatest authority on English hymnology,
lit was Charles Wesley who was the great
hymn writer Of the Wesley family. and
perhaps. taking quantity and quality into
consideration, the great hymn writer OF
all ages" Charles Wesley is said to have
written $500 hymns, OF which about 500
are still in general use. and of the TIT
hymns in the Methodist Hymnal, 120 were
written by him
Prof. Edmund Goese of Trinity Col
1ege, Cambridge, said: There can be little
question that the sacred songs of Charles
Wesley reach at their noblest the highest
level OF Protestant religious poetry. His
Wrestling Jacob is his masterpiece, and
is inspired by IA genuine dramatic pas
sion" When DR.. Watts, himself a cele-
brated hymn writer. read this hymn. with
a noble modesty, he said: This single
poem ts worth all the verses have ever
written"
George Matheson's Masterpiece.
Love. that wilt not let me 20,
rest my weary soul in thee.
give thee back the life I owe
That IN thine ocean depths its nov
May richer. fuller be.
Light. that follcwest all my way
Yield my bicker1ne torch TO thee
My heart restores It's borrowed ray
That In thy sunshiue's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be-
o JOY that seekest me through pain,
l cannot close my heart TO thee,
trace the rainbow through the rain
And feel the promise DOT Ia vain
That morn shall fearless be.
Cross that iiftest I'D my head,
dare not ask to ny from thee,
\ I.v in fnsf hfcsG vts,rp do.