LORD, we confess our numerous faults, How great our guilt has been! Foolish and vain were all our thoughts, And all our lives were sin.
But, O my soul! for ever praise, For ever love His name, Who turns my feet from all the ways Of folly, sin and shame.
’Tis not by works of righteousness Which our own hands have done; But we are saved by sovereign grace Abounding through His Son.
’Tis by the mercy of our God That all our hopes begin; ’Tis by the water and the blood Our souls are washed from sin.
’Tis by the purchase of our God, Who hung and suffered thus, The Spirit—breathing through the Word, Awakens such as us.
Raised from the dead, we live anew; And, justified by grace, We shall appear in glory too, And see our Father’s face.
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748