John Wesley’s Last Hymn
The great evangelist had reached the age of eighty-eight and his passing hence was in a cloud of glory. Arnold Lunn thus describes it in his book John Wesley:[2] “The end was very beautiful. He lingered for three days, surrounded by those who loved him. No pain, only a growing sense of weakness, and a tranquil acceptance of the inevitable. He slept much and spoke little, but sometimes the dying flame flickered up, and the inner light which had changed the face of England glowed with its old intensity. On the afternoon before he died, he surprised his friends by bursting into song:
‘I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers.’
He sang two verses and then sank back exhausted. These lines were from Watts’ well-known hymn. Some hours passed as Wesley continued to sink, and with ebbing strength his last words of triumphant faith were: “The best of all is, God is with us.”
Such a consciousness of the divine presence has sustained many others. Here is one instance entitled: