The words
Stanza 1. When the wounded spirit hearsThe voice of JESUS’ blood;How the message stops the tearsWhich else in vain had flowed:Pardon, grace, and peace proclaimed,And the sinner called a child;Then the stubborn heart is tamed,Renewed, and reconciled.
Stanza 2. O! ’twas grace indeed, to spare,And save a wretch like me!Men or angels could not bearWhat I have offered thee:Were thy bolts at their command,Hell, ere now, had been my place;Thou alone couldst silent stand,And wait to show thy grace.
Stanza 3. If in one created mindThe tenderness and loveOf thy saints on earth were joined,With all the hosts above;Still that love were weak and poor,If compared, my LORD, with thine;Far too scanty to endureA heart so vile as mine.
Stanza 4. Wondrous mercy I have found,But ah! how faint my praise!Must I be a cumber–ground,Unfruitful all my days?Do I in thy garden grow,Yet produce thee only leaves?LORD, forbid it should he so!The thought my spirit grieves.
Stanza 5. Heavy charges Satan bringsTo fill me with distress;Let me hide beneath thy wings,And plead thy righteousness:LORD, to thee for help I call,’Tis thy promise bids me come;Tell him thou hast paid for all,And that shall strike him dumb.
Olney Hymns (1779), Book 3, Hymn 56. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/3-56
