1. WHERE have I been so long Fast bound in sin and night, Mix’d with the blind self righteous throng Who hate the sons of light?
2. O how shall I presume, Jesus, to call on thee, Sunk in the lowest dregs of _Rome_, The worst idolatry!
3. A stranger to thy grace, Long have I labour’d, Lord, To ’stablish my own righteousness, And been what I abhor’d.
4. Foe to the _Popish_ boast No merit was in me! Yet in my works I put my trust, And not _alone_ in thee.
5. For works that I had wrought I look’d to be forgiven, And by my virtuous tempers thought At last to _purchase_ heaven.
6. Or if I needed still The help of grace divine, Thy merits should come in to fill The small defects of mine.
7. Alas! I knew not then Thou only didst atone For all the sinful sons of men, And purge our guilt alone.
8. Didst shed thy blood to pay The all-sufficient price, And take the world’s offence away By thy great sacrifice.
9. But O! my dying God, By thee convinced at last, My soul on that atoning blood, On that _alone_ I cast.
10. I dare no longer trust On ought I do, or feel, But own, while humbled in the dust, My whole desert is hell.
11. My works of righteousness I cast them all away; Me, Lord, thou frankly must release, For I have nought to pay:
12. Not one good word or thought I to thy merits join, But gladly take the gift unbought Of righteousness divine.
13. My faith is all in thee, My only hope thou art, The pardon thou hast bought for me, Engrave it on my heart:
14. The blood by faith applied O let it now take place, And speak me freely justified, And fully sav’d by grace.