How a Wesleyan Goes to the Scriptures

As a member of the Order of St. Luke, my devotional practice includes the praying of the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer. We are free in the Order to use whatever versions of the Daily Office we choose (the OSL, of course, provides their own resources). It has been my practice to use the version of the Book of Common Prayer given by John Wesley to the Methodists in America, viz., The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America.

Fairly recently I began to incorporate in my prayers the singing of hymns taken from The Works of John Wesley, vol. 7, "Collection of Hymns for the Use of The People Called Methodists" (Bicentennial Ed. - Over this past week I sang a series of hymns in a section entitled "Before reading the Scriptures," and I want to share a few stanzas from three of those hymns (pages 186-85).

Notice how different the Wesleyan approach to Scripture is from fundamentalism, on the one hand, and ultra-liberalism, on the other. Notice the affirmation of the inspiration of the writings of Holy Scripture, but also the necessity for the Holy Spirit to inspire them afresh and anew to us. Notice also the goal of going to the Scriptures, viz., to know God.

85

1. Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,

Let us thine influence prove,

Source of the old prophetic fire,

Fountain of life and love.

2. Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee

The prophets wrote and spoke);

Unlock the truth, thyself the key,

Unseal the sacred book.

3. Expand thy wings, celestial dove,

Brood o'er our nature's night;

On our disordered spirits move,

And let there now be light.

4. God through himself we then shall know,

If thou within us shine;

And sound, with all thy saints below,

The depths of love divine.

AND

86

2. While in thy Word we search for thee

(We search with trembling awe!)

Open our eyes, and let us see

The wonders of thy law.

3. Now let our darkness comprehend

The light that shines so clear;

Now the revealing Spirit send,

And give us ears to hear.

AND AGAIN

87

1. Inspirer of the ancient seers,

Who wrote from thee the sacred page,

The same through all succeeding years;

To us in our degenerate age

The spirit of thy Word impart,

And breathe the life into our heart.

2. While now thine oracles we read

With earnest prayer and strong desire,

O let thy Spirit from thee proceed

Our souls to waken and inspire,

Our weakness help, our darkness chase,

And guide us by the light of grace.