Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), Hymn 24

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

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

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

We laugh to scorn his cruel power,
While at our Shepherd's side;
The sheep he never can devourf
Unless he first divide.

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.

Together let us sweetly live,
Together let us die,
And each a starry crown receive,
And reign above the sky.

Keep us till then in perfect peace,
And call us each to prove
An endless age of heavenly bliss,
An endless age of love.