Charles Wesley composed the hymn "Abraham, when severely tried" as an expansive poetic meditation on the nature of faith. The text was first published on page 12 of the 1740 edition of Hymns and Sacred Poems, where it appeared under the formal title "The Life of Faith Exemplified." In this original form, the work was a massive scriptural paraphrase of Hebrews 11, spanning a total of 80 stanzas.
Because of its extraordinary length, the full text was impractical for regular church services. To adapt it for congregational singing, a select portion consisting of 7 stanzas was extracted and included as entry Number 277 in John Wesley's landmark Wesleyan Hymn Book in 1780.
This specific 7-stanza selection became highly influential, subsequently passing into the standard worship collections of almost all Methodist bodies worldwide. For historical and textual reference, the complete original text was later reprinted in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley (1868–1872), where it can be found in volume I on page 214.
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