Not what my hands have done
can save my guilty soul,
not what my toiling flesh has borne
can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
can give me peace with God,
not all my prayers and sighs and tears
can bear my awful load.
Thy work alone, O Christ,
can ease this weight of sin,
thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
not mine, O Lord, to thee,
can rid me of this dark unrest
and set my spirit free.
I bless the Christ of God,
I rest on love divine,
and with unfalt’ring lip and heart
I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in his tomb
each thought of unbelief and fear,
each ling’ring shade of gloom.
I praise the God of grace,
I trust his truth and might.
He calls me his, I call him mine,
my God, my joy, my light.
My Lord has saved my life,
and freely pardon gives;
I love because he first loved me,
I live because he lives.
Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)