NOT WHAT MY HANDS HAVE DONE

"By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2: 8-9

 

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.

 

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;

Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.

No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;

No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

 

I praise the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;

And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.

My Lord has saved my life and freely pardon gives;

I love because He first loved me, I live because He lives.

 

Horatius Bonar, 1861

 

H.T.  Reformation Ink

THY WAY, NOT MINE, O LORD
"The Lord will guide you always." Isaiah 58:11

Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot;
I would not, if I might;
Choose Thou for me, my God,
So I shall walk aright.

Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem;
Choose Thou my good and ill.

Choose Thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health;
Choose Thou my cares for me
My poverty or wealth.

The kingdom that I seek
Is Thine: so let the way
That leads to it be Thine,
Else I must surely stray.

Not mine, not mine the choice
In things or great or small;
Be Thou my guide, my strength
My wisdom, and my all.

Horatius Bonar, 1857.

(Courtesy of Reformation Ink)

May I find comfort in my Lord's providential care.

RC