A Call to Worship
VERSE 1
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love, and pow’r.
REFRAIN
I will arise and go to Jesus;
He will embrace me in His arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
VERSE 2
Come, ye thirsty; come and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify,
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
VERSE 3
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
VERSE 4
Lo! The incarnate God ascended
Pleads the merit of His blood;
Venture on Him, venture wholly;
Let no other trust intrude.
Hart, Joseph, was born in London in 1712. His early life is involved in obscurity. His education was fairly good; and from the testimony of his brother-in-law, and successor in the ministry in Jewin Street, the Rev. John Hughes, “his civil calling was” for some time “that of a teacher of the learned languages.” His early life, according to his own Experience which he prefaced to his Hymns, was a curious mixture of loose conduct, serious conviction of sin, and endeavours after amendment of life, and not until Whitsuntide, 1757, did he realize a permanent change, which was brought about mainly through his attending divine service at the Moravian Chapel, in Fetter Lane, London, and hearing a sermon on Rev. iii. 10. During the next two years, many of his most earnest and impassioned hymns were written. These appeared as:—
Hymns composed on Various Subjects, with the Author’s Experience, London, 1759. During this year he became the Minister of the Independent Chapel, Jewin Street, London. In 1762 he added a Supplement to his Hymns; and in 1765 an Appendix. In modern editions of his Hymns these three are embodied in one volume as:— Hymns composed on Various Subjects: With the Author’s Experience, The Supplement and Appendix. By the Rev. Joseph Hart, late Minister of the Gospel in Jewin Street, London. Allott & Co. [no date].
Hart died on May 24, 1768. At one time his hymns were widely used, especially by Calvinistic Nonconformists. Many of them are of merit, and are marked by great earnestness, and passionate love of the Redeemer. The best known are: “Come, Holy Spirit, come”; “Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched”; “This God is the God we adore”; and “Lord, look on all assembled here.” https://hymnary.org/person/Hart_Joseph
