A Hymn for the Day

No strength of nature can suffice
To serve the Lord aright:
And what she has, she misapplies,
For lack of clearer light.

How long beneath the law I lay
In bondage and distress;
I worked the precept to obey,
But toiled without success.

Then to abstain from outward sin
Was more than I could do;
Now if I feel its power within,
I feel I hate it too.

Then all my serv ile works were done
A righteousness to raise;
Now freely chosen in the Son,
I freely choose His ways.

“What shall I do,” was then the word,
“That I may worthier grow?”
“What shall I render to the Lord?”
Is my inquiry now.

To see the law by Christ fulfilled
And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.


- William Cowper