Another Vigil hymn

1048 1st P. M. 6 lines 8s.
A living sacrifice unto the Lord.

WISDOM ascribe, and might, and praise,
   To God, who lengthens out our days;
   Who spares us yet another year,
   And makes us see his goodness here:
   O may we all the time redeem,
   And henceforth live and die to him!

2 How often, when his arm was bared.
   Hath he our sinful Israel spared;
   Let me alone,—his mercy cried,
   And turn’d the vengeful bolt aside;
   Indulged another kind reprieve,
   And strangely suffer’d us to live.

3 Merciful God, how shall we raise
   Our hearts to pay thee all thy praise?
   Our hearts shall beat for thee alone;
   Our lives shall make thy goodness known;
   Our souls and bodies shall be thine,
   A living sacrifice divine.
                         Charles Wesley
                         Methodist Episcopal hymnal (1870 edition)

<idle musing>
I'm in the midst of editing a commentary on 1 & 2 Chronicles right now, so the second verse immediately called to mind the scene at the end of 1 Chronicles where the angel of the Lord has his sword suspended over Jerusalem, about to strike, when the Lord "Indulged another kind reprieve," "And turn'd the vengeful bolt aside."
</idle musing>