How happy every child of grace

115 How happy every child of grace

1 How happy every child of grace,
   Who knows his sins forgiven!
   This earth, he cries, is not my place,
   I seek my place in heaven:
   A country far from mortal sight;
   Yet, O! by faith I see
   The land of rest, the saints delight,
   The heaven prepar'd for me.

2 O what a blessed hope is ours!
   While here on earth we stay,
   We more than taste the heavenly powers,
   And antedate that day;
   We feel the resurrection near,
   Our life in Christ conceal'd,
   And with his glorious presence here
   Our earthen vessels fill'd.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not one of Charles Wesley's more popular hymns, occurring in only 379 hymnals. But, it does have some variants. The base text at hymnary.org adds this third verse:

3 O would he more of heaven bestow,
   And let the vessel break,
   And let our ransom'd spirits go,
   To grasp the God we seek:
   In rapturous awe on him to gaze,
   Who bought the sight for me,
   And shout and wonder at his grace
   Through all eternity.

But, the Salvation Army hymnal omits that and our second verse and instead has these:

2 A stranger in the world below,
   I calmly sojourn here;
   Nor can its happiness or woe
   Provoke my hope or fear.
   Its evils in a moment end,
   Its joys as soon are past;
   But O the bliss to which I tend
   Eternally shall last!

3 To that Jerusalem above
   With singing I repair;
   While in the flesh, my hope and love,
   My heart and soul, are there;
   There my exalted Saviour stands,
   My merciful high priest,
   And still extends his wounded hands
   To me, of saints the least.

4 Then let me joyfully remove
   That fuller life to share;
   I shall not lose my friends above,
   But more enjoy them there.
   There we in Jesus’ praise shall join,
   His boundless love proclaim,
   And sing the everlasting song
   Of Moses and the Lamb.

</idle musing>