Christ My Song - 276
Grace, triumphant in the throne - Not of Works
(William Cowper/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
Not of Works.
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. PDF - Midi
2. Self, the god his soul adores,
influences all his powers;
Jesus is a slighted name,
self-advancement all his aim:
but when God the Judge shall come,
to pronounce the final doom,
then for rocks and hills to hide
all his works and all his pride!
3. Still the boasting heart replies,
What! the worthy and the wise,
friends of temperance and peace,
have not these a righteousness?
Banish every vain pretence
built on human excellence;
perish every thing in man,
but the grace, that never can.
William Cowper, The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper, 1853(?), 268.
And: Olney Hymns, Book 3, Hymn 75.