This is an experiment. I have posted video’s of others but very rarely (I think one) of myself. Maybe this will be a flop. But if it is, at least for those who see this, the exposure they gain from the words of this 160 year old hymn will still be an encouragement to appreciate Christ with a deeper fervor and an abounding love.
Horatius Bonar /həˈreɪʃəs ˈbɒnˌɑːr, ˈbɒnər/ (19 December 1808 – 31 July 1889), a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M’cheyne was a Scottish churchman and poet. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bonar. (Wikipedia)
The Wikipedia article mentions 140 hymns for which he was “famous” but this one is not included. Perhaps the music for it was not as good as his poetry and theology. That’s a pity because such words, such theology deserve a prominent place in our hearts. The lyrics follow below.
Not What My Hands Have Done
Verse 1
Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul
Not what my toiling flesh has done
Can make my spirit whole
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load
Verse 2
Thy work alone, O Christ
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God
Can give me peace within
Thy love to me, O God
Not mine, O Lord, to thee
Can rid me of this dark unrest
And set my spirit free
Verse 3
Thy grace alone, O God
To me can pardon speak
Thy pow’r alone, O son of God,
Can this sore bondage break,
No other work, save thine
No other blood will do;
No strength, save that which is divine
Can bear me safely through.
Verse 4
I bless the Christ of God,
I rest on love divine;
And with unfalt’ring lip and heart,
I call this Savior mine.
This cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in his tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
Each ling’ring shade of gloom.
Verse 5
I praise the God of grace I trust
His truth and might He calls me His,
I call Him mine
My God, my Joy, my Light
‘Tis he who saveth me
And freely pardon gives
I love because He loveth me
I live because He lives
Text by Horatius Bonar, 1861
Updated now with a recording from the congregation of Captial Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.
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