Repentance

1. With melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
To escape the vengeance due to me?

2. Till late, I saw no danger nigh;
I lived at ease, nor feared to die;
Wrapped up in self-conceit and pride,
“I shall have peace at last,” I cried.

3.But when, great God, thy light divine
Had shone on this dark soul of mine,
Then I beheld, with trembling awe,
The terrors of thy holy law.

4. How dreadful now my guilt appears,
In childhood, youth, and growing years;
Before thy pure discerning eye,
Lord, what a filthy wretch am I!

5. Should vengeance still my soul pursue,
Death and destruction are my due;
Yet mercy can my guilt forgive,
And bid a dying sinner live.

6. Does not thy sacred word proclaim
Salvation free in Jesus’ name?
To him I look, and humbly cry,
“O save a wretch condemned to die!”

J. FAWCETT