Grace, triumphant in the throne

Book 3, Hymn 75 · William Cowper · Public-domain words

The words

Stanza 1. Grace, triumphant in the throne,Scorns a rival, reigns alone!Come and bow beneath her sway,Cast your idol works away:Works of man, when made his plea,Never shall accepted be;Fruits of pride (vain–glorious worm)Are the best he can perform.
Stanza 2. Self, the god his soul adores,Influences all his pow’rs;JESUS is a slighted name,Self–advancement all his aim:But when God the Judge shall come,To pronounce the final doomThen for rocks and hills to hide,All his works and all his pride.
Stanza 3. Still the boasting heart replies,What the worthy and the wise,Friends to temperance and peace,Have not these a righteousness?Banish every vain pretenceBuilt on human excellence;Perish everything in man,But the grace that never can.

Olney Hymns (1779), Book 3, Hymn 75. William Cowper. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/3-75

William Cowper lived from 1731 to 1800. These historical words are public domain.

This hymn belongs to the complete three-book collection first published in 1779.

The CCEL transcription modernizes spelling and some punctuation. Read this hymn at the source. Checked 23 October 2026.

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