Hymn 146. Weary Souls Invited to Rest  

Matt. 11. 28.

Come weary souls with sin distrest,

The Saviour offers heavenly rest;

The kind, the gracious call obey,

And cast your gloomy fears away.

Oppress’d with guilt, a painful load,

O come, and spread your woes abroad;

Divine compassion, mighty love,

Will all the painful load remove.

Here Mercy’s boundless ocean flows,

To cleanse your guilt and heal your woes;

Pardon, and life, and endless peace –

How rich the gift!  how free the grace!

Lord, we accept with thankful heart,

The hope thy gracious words impart;

We come with trembling, yet rejoice,

And bless the kind inviting voice.

Dear Saviour, let thy powerful love

Confirm our faith, our fears remove,

And sweetly influence every breast,

And guide us to eternal rest. 

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, pp. 50-51; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 146 (all stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 27-28; MS, Steele Collection, STE 3/1/1 no. 10, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.