This song is usually known by its first line, Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown, but Wesley himself called it Wrestling Jacob, since it is the Genesis story of Jacob wrestling God at the ford of the River Jabbok, re-told from the perspective of person discovering the Christian nature of grace. In thinking about this hymn for the first time in a long time, I was suddenly struck by the line, "My company before is gone, and I am left alone with thee." I remember reading once that, after his brother's death, John Wesley was leading a congregation in singing this hymn, and broke down upon reaching that line.
This song is an excellent piece to meditate on during a time when so many are forced into isolation. Perhaps we should all be wrestling with our hopes and fears, and discovering who God is to us.
Below is a British Methodist congregation singing this hymn to a tune called (I believe) David's Harp. American Methodist sing it (though not nearly as often as they should) to a tune called Candler. The British have updated the lyrics a bit. I'll place the original lyrics beneath the video.
Come, O thou traveler unknown,
whom still I hold but cannot see;
my company before is gone,
and I am left alone with thee;
with thee all night I mean to stay,
and wrestle till the break of day.
I need not tell thee who I am,
my sin and misery declare;
thyself hast called me by my name,
look on thy hands, and read it there;
but who, I ask thee, who art thou?
Tell me thy Name, and tell me now.
In vain thou strugglest to get free;
I never will unloose my hold;
art thou the Man that died for me?
The secret of thy love unfold;
wrestling, I will not let thee go,
till I thy Name, thy nature know.
Yield to me now, for I am weak,
but confident in self-despair;
speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
be conquered by my instant prayer;
speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
and tell me if thy Name be Love.
’Tis Love! ’tis Love! thou diedst for me,
I hear thy whisper in my heart;
the morning breaks, the shadows flee:
pure, universal love thou art;
to me, to all thy mercies move;
thy nature and thy Name is Love!
Lame as I am, I take the prey;
hell, earth and sin, with ease o’ercome.
I leap for joy, pursue my way,
and, as a bounding hart, I run
through all eternity to prove
thy nature and thy Name is Love!
—Charles Wesley, 1742
