[Fuusm-l] Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee - Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

[Randall Kidder]

Charles Wesley, English leader of the Methodist movement wrote over 6,500
hymns (usually the words), which were characterized by the strong Arminian
insistance of the universality of God's love; drawing upon a mix of of
Biblical as well as literarary sources, and a variety of stanza forms and
metrical patterns. This hymn, from his "A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,"
1741, is not found in the standard "The United Methodist Hymnal," but is in
a Methodist songbook, "Songs of Zion." Eileen Southern published an
ethnomusicological resource in 1971, "The Music of Black Americans: A
History." In it she referred to the Methodist "Songs of Zion" as one of the
"great monuments of Black church music."
On a personal note, this piece is not limited to reflecting only the
African-American struggle against oppression, but also the ubiquitous
struggle against the oppression of all ethnic and economic classes.

Words to "Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee"

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

On Thy dear Son I now believe
O let me feel Thy power
And all my varied wants relieve
In this accepted hour.

Author of fate! to Thee I lift
My weary longing eyes
O let me now receive this gift
My soul without it dies.

Surely, Thou canst let me die,
O speak, and I shall live, And here I will unwearied lie,
Til Thou Thy Spirit give.

How would my fainting soul rejoice
Could I but see Thy face  [I must interject here that I see a reference to
Moses meeting
                                               God on Mt. Sinai in Exodus
19. A poignant reference to escaping
                                               oppression, and questionably
setting further rules for
                                               deliverance.)
Now let me hear Thy quickening voice
And taste Thy pardoning grace.

I do believe, I now believe
That Jesus died for me.
And that He shed His precious blood
>From sin to set me free.

There are various lyrical variations but this is the gist.




Randall Kidder
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