Charles Wesley wrote O For a Thousand Tongues in 1739, a year after his conversion. The opening is a direct quote from the pagan poet Ovid, yet Wesley borrowed it for the most Christian of purposes: how can one tongue ever praise a God worthy of all worship?
The hymn is a meditation on what makes us human and what makes us new. My tongue was bound, Wesley sings, recalling the demoniac in Mark 7 whose demon had silenced him. But when Christ set him free, the man proclaimed all that Jesus had done. Wesley is that demoniac. His tongue is loosed.
What follows is a hymn of such directness it shames modern sophistication. For my sake He bore shame and spurn, suffered, bled, and died. The cross is stated plainly. The victory is announced with clarity. And then, in what feels almost like a whisper after all that noise: come, all ye prisoners, my soul to Jesus' name give all to Him.