Safety in union

701 C. M.
Safety in union.

JESUS, great Shepherd of the sheep,
   To thee for help we fly:
   Thy little flock in safety keep,
   For O! the wolf is nigh.

2 He comes, of hellish malice full,
   To scatter, tear, and slay;
   He seizes every straggling soul
   As his own lawful prey.

3 Us into thy protection take,
   And gather with thine arm;
   Unless the fold we first forsake,
   The wolf can never harm.

4 We laugh to scorn his cruel power,
   While by our Shepherd’s side;
   The sheep he never can devour,
   Unless he first divide.

5 O do not suffer him to part
   The souls that here agree;
   But make us of one mind and heart,
   And keep us one in thee.

6 Together let us sweetly live,—
   Together let us die;
   And each a starry crown receive,
   And reign above the sky.
                            Charles Wesley
                            Methodist Episcopal hymnal (1870 edition)