Jesus, united by thy grace

Jesus, united by thy grace. Charles Wesley* (1707-1788). First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742), where it was Part IV of a hymn that began ‘Try us, O God, and search the Ground’. It was entitled ‘A Prayer for Persons join’d in Fellowship’. Stanzas from Part I and Part IV of this hymn were used to make ‘Help us to help each other, Lord’*. It began ‘Jesu, united by Thy Grace’, but the modern ‘Jesus’ avoids the uncomfortable repetition of ‘u’, and has been adopted by most books. The hymn in 1742 had nine stanzas in Part IV: most modern books follow MHB and HP in printing six. The 1742 text of the six stanzas was as follows: Jesus, united by Thy Grace,  And each to each...