O blessed Paul elect to grace,
Arise and wash away thy sin,
Anoint thy head and wash thy face,
Thy gracious course begin.
To start thee on thy outrunning race
Christ shows the splendour of His Face:
What will that Face of splendour be
When at the goal He welcomes thee?
In weariness and painfulness St. Paul
Served God and pleased Him: after-saints no less
Can wait on and can please Him, one and all
In weariness and painfulness,
By faith and hope triumphant thro distress:
Not with the rankling service of a thrall;
But even as loving children trust and bless.
Weep and rejoice, answering their Father’s call,
Work with tired hands, and forward upward press
On sore tired feet still rising when they fall,
In weariness and painfulness.