FORGIVING Lord, how kind Are all Thy ways to me, Whose once-benighted mind Was enmity with Thee; Yet now, subdued by sovereign grace My spirit longs for Thine embrace.
How precious are Thy thoughts, That o’er my spirit roll; They look beyond my faults, And captivate my soul; How great their sum, how high they rise Can ne’er be known beneath the skies.
Preserved in Jesus, when My feet made haste to hell; And there should I have gone, But Thou didst all things well; Thy love was great, Thy mercy free, Which from the pit delivered me.
A monument of grace, A sinner saved by blood: The streams of love I trace Up to their fountain—God! And in His heart of mercy see Eternal thoughts of love to me.
Before Thy hands had made The sun to rule the day, Or earth’s foundations laid, Or fashioned Adam’s clay, What thoughts of peace and mercy flowed In Thy blest Being, O my God!
John Kent, 1766-1843