Wrestling Jacob

Verse 1

Come, O thou traveler unknown, Whom still I hold, but cannot see! My company before is gone, And I am left alone with thee; With thee all night to stay And wrestle till the break of day.

Verse 2

I need not tell thee who I am, My misery or sin declare; Thyself hast called me by my name; Look on thy hands and read it there! But who, I ask thee, who art thou? Tell me thy name, and tell me now.

Verse 3

In vain thou strugglest to get free; I never will unloose my hold. Art thou the Man that died for me? The secret of thy love unfold; Wrestling, I will not let thee go, Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Verse 4

Wilt thou not yet to me reveal Thy new, unutterable name? Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell, To know it now, resolved I am; Wrestling, I will not let thee go, Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Verse 5

’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue, Or touch the hollow of my thigh: Though every sinew were unstrung, Out of my arms thou shalt not fly; Wrestling, I will not let thee go, Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Verse 6

What though my shrinking flesh complain, And murmur to contend so long, I rise superior to my pain; When I am weak, then I am strong; And when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-man prevail.

Verse 7

My strength is gone, my nature dies, I sink beneath thy weighty hand, Faint to revive, and fall to rise; I fall, and yet by faith I stand; I stand, and will not let thee go, Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Verse 8

Yield to me now—for I am weak, But confident in self-despair! Speak to my heart, in blessings speak, Be conquer’d by my instant prayer; Speak, or thou never hence shalt move, And tell me, if thy name is love.

Verse 9

’Tis love! ’tis love! thou diedst for me! I hear thy whisper in my heart. The morning breaks, the shadows flee: Pure, universal love thou art; To me, to all thy passions move; Thy nature and thy name is love.

Verse 10

My pray’r hath power with God; the grace Unspeakable I now receive, Through faith I see thee face to face; I see thee face to face and live! In vain I have not wept and strove; Thy nature and thy name is love.

Verse 11

I know thee, Savior, who thou art: Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend; Nor wilt thou with the night depart, But stay and love me to the end; Thy mercies never shall remove, Thy nature and thy name is love.

Verse 12

The Sun of Righteousness on me Hath rose, with healing in his wings; Withered my nature’s strength; from thee My soul its life and comfort brings; My help is all laid up above; Thy nature and thy name is love.

Verse 13

Contented now, upon my thigh I halt, till life’s short journey end; All helplesness, all weakness I, On thee alone for strength depend, Nor have I power from thee to move; Thy nature and thy name is love.

Verse 14

Lame as I am, I take the prey, Hell, Earth, and sin with ease o’ercome; I leap for joy, pursue my way, And as a bounding hart fly home, Through all eternity to prove Thy nature and thy name is love.