Charles Wesley

1707-1788

Born: December 28, 1707, Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. Died: March 29, 1788, London, England. Buried: Marylebone Parish Church, London.

Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. Like most hymnists, his work were frequently altered. In the preface to one of his hymnals, he wrote:

I beg leave to mention a thought which has been long upon my mind, and which I should long ago have inserted in the public papers, had I not been unwilling to stir up a nest of hornets. Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honour to reprint many of our hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome to do so, provided they print them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them, for they are really not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them these two favours: either to let them stand just as they are, to take things for better or worse, or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page, that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.

In addition to hymn writing, Charles and his brother John founded the Methodist Church.

Hymns:

1. All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord
2. Ambassadors of God
3. And Are We Yet Alive?
4. And Can It Be That I Should Gain?
5. And Let Our Bodies Part
6. And Let This Feeble Body Fail
7. And Must I Be to Judgment Brought
8. Arise, My Soul, Arise
9. Author of Faith, Eternal Word
10. Because Thou Hast Said
11. Blest Be the Dear Uniting Love
12. Blow Ye the Trumpet, Blow
13. By Faith We Find the Place Above
14. Captain of Israel’s Host
15. Celebrate Immanuel’s Name
16. Charge to Keep I Have, A
17. Christ from Whom All Blessings Flow
18. Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
19. Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
20. Come Away to the Skies
21. Come, and Let Us Sweetly Join
22. Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire
23. Come, Let Us Join Our Friends Above
24. Come, Let Us Join with One Accord
25. Come, Let Us Anew Our Journey Pursue
26. Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine
27. Come, Let Us Who in Christ Believe
28. Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown
29. Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast
30. Come, Thou Almighty King
31. Come, Thou Conqueror of the Nations
32. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
33. Come, Ye Weary Sinners, Come
34. Depth of Mercy
35. Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee
36. Father of Jesus Christ, My Lord
37. Forever Here My Rest Shall Be
38. Forth in Thy Name, O Lord
39. Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild
40. Give Me the Faith Which Can Remove
41. Great Archangel’s Trump, The
42. Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise
43. Hark! A Voice Divides the Sky
44. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
45. He Comes! He Comes! the Judge Severe!
46. Head of Thy Church, Whose Spirit Fills
47. Hearken to the Solemn Voice
48. How Can We Sinners Know
49. How Happy Are the Little Flock
50. How Happy Every Child of Grace
51. I Know That My Redeemer Lives
52. I Want a Principle Within
53. In Age and Feebleness Extreme
54. Infinite God, to Thee We Raise
55. Jehovah, God the Father, Bless
56. Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
57. Jesus, Faithful to His Word
58. Jesus, Lord, We Look to Thee
59. Jesus, Lover of My Soul
60. Jesus, My Strength, My Hope
61. Jesus, the Conqueror, Reigns
62. Jesus! the Name High over All
63. Jesus, the Sinner’s Friend
64. Jesus, Thine All Victorious Love
65. Jesus, Thou All Redeeming Lord
66. Jesus, United by Thy Grace
67. Jesus, We Look to Thee
68. Join, All Ye Ransomed Sons of Grace
69. Lamb of God I Look to Thee
70. Let Earth and Heaven Combine
71. Let Us Plead for Faith Alone
72. Lift Your Heads
73. Light of Those Whose Dreary Dwelling
74. Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending
75. Lord, in the Strength of Grace
76. Lord, Whom Winds and Waves Obey
77. Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
78. Lovers of Pleasure More Than God
79. Maker in Whom We Live
80. My God, I Know, I Feel Thee Mine
81. O Come and Dwell in Me
82. O for a Heart to Praise My God
83. O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
84. O How Happy Are They
85. O Jesus, My Hope
86. O Love, Divine, How Sweet Thou Art
87. O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done
88. O Thou Who at Thy Creature’s Bar
89. O Thou Who Camest from Above
90. O Thou, Whom All Thy Saints Adore
91. O What Shall I Do, My Savior to Praise
92. Our Earth We Now Lament to See
93. Our Lord Is Risen from the Dead
94. Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above
95. Prisoners of Hope, Arise
96. Rejoice, the Lord Is King
97. Savior, Whom Our Hearts Adore
98. See How Great a Flame Aspires
99. See, Sinners, in the Gospel Glass
100. Sing to the Great Jehovah’s Praise
101. Sinners, Believe the Gospel Word
102. Sinners, Obey the Gospel Word
103. Sinners, Turn: Why Will You Die?
104. Soldiers of Christ, Arise
105. Spirit of Faith, Come Down
106. Stand the Omnipotent Decree
107. Surrounded by a Host of Foes
108. Talk with Us, Lord
109. Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose
110. This Is Thy Will, I Know
111. Thou Judge of Quick and Dead
112. Thousand Oracles Divine, A
113. ’Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies
114. To Us a Child of Royal Birth
115. Weary of Wandering from My God
116. Weary Souls That Wander Wide
117. Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?
118. Woe to the Men on Earth Who Dwell
119. Would Jesus Have the Sinner Die?
120. Ye Neighbors and Friends of Jesus
121. Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear
122. Ye Servants of God
123. Ye Thirsty for God
124. Ye Waiting Souls, Arise
125. Young Men and Maidens, Raise