Hymn 144. Longing Souls Invited to the Gospel-Feast   

Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor,

Behold a royal feast!

Where Mercy spreads her bounteous store,

For every humble guest.

See, Jesus stands with open arms; 

He calls, he bids you come:

Guilt holds you back, and Fear alarms;

But see, there yet is room.

Room in the Saviour’s bleeding heart:

There Love and Pity meet;                                                         

Nor will he bid the soul depart,

That trembles at his feet.

In him, the Father reconcil’d

Invites your souls to come;

The rebel shall be call’d a child,                                                            

And kindly welcom’d home.

O come, and with his children taste

The blessings of his love;

While Hope attends the sweet repast,

Of nobler joys above.                                                                              

There, with united heart and voice,

Before th’eternal throne,

Ten thousand thousand souls rejoice,

In extasies unknown.

And yet ten thousand thousand more,

Are welcome still to come:

Ye longing souls the grace adore;

Approach, there yet is room.

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, pp. 43-44; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 144 (all stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 17-18; MS, Steele Collection, STE 3/1/4 no. 14, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.