The Word That Held Firm

In 1738, a young Anglican clergyman named Charles Wesley lay desperately ill in London, burning with pleurisy and riddled with doubt. He had just returned from a failed mission to Georgia, his faith shaken to its foundations. On the night of May 21, too weak to rise from his bed, Wesley opened his Bible and read the Psalms. The words of the living God — faithful, right, true — met him in that small, dark room on Little Britain Street.…