Give me the wings of faith to rise

424 St. Peter. C. M.

1 Give me the wings of faith to rise
   Within the veil and see
   The saints above, how great their joys,
   How bright their glories be.

2 I ask them whence their victory came,
   They with united breath,
   Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
   Their triumph to his death.

3 They marked the footsteps that he trod,
   (His zeal inspired their breast);
   And following their incarnate God,
   Possess the promised rest.

4 Our glorious Leader claims our praise
   For his own pattern given;
   While the long cloud of witnesses
   Shows the same path to heaven.
                         Isaac Watts
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This Watts hymn only occurs in a few more than 500 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse after verse 1:

2 Once they were mourning here below,
   And wet their couch with tears;
   They wrestled hard, as we do now,
   With sins, and doubts, and fears.

</idle musing>