4. By grace His Son, on earth appearing, Vouchsafed beneath thy woe to bend; Hadst thou, damnation justly fearing, Done aught to render Him thy Friend? Was’t not that He thy welfare sought And but by grace deliverance wrought? 5. By grace! This ground of our salvation, As long as God is true, endures; What saints have penned by inspiration, What God by His own Word assures, What all our faith must rest upon, Is grace, free grace, through His dear Son. 6. By grace! But think not, thou who livest Securely on in godless ways, That thou—though all are called—receivest The promised rest that wakes our praise. By grace none find in heaven a place Who live in sin in hope of grace. 7. By grace! They who have heard this sentence Must all hypocrisy forego; For only after deep repentance Can any soul this treasure know; To sin free grace a trifle seems, To faith it bright with glory beams. 8. By grace the timid hearts that languish Find access to the Father’s heart, When conflicts fierce and bitter anguish Bid all their joy and hopes depart. Where ofttimes should I strength obtain, Did grace my anchor not remain! 9. By grace! On this in death I’ll rest me, Rejoicing e’en though feeling naught; I know my sin,—it oft oppressed me,— But Him, too, who salvation brought. My heart exults, grief flees apace, Because my soul is saved by grace. 10. By grace! May sin and Satan hearken! I bear my flag of faith in hand And pass—for doubts my joy can’t darken— The Red Sea to the Promised Land. I cling to what my Savior taught And trust it, whether felt or not. C. L. Scheidt, 1742; M. Loy, tr., a. 312 9, 8, 9, 8, 8, 8 Now I have found the sure foundation Where evermore my anchor grounds. It lay there ere the world’s creation, Where else but in my Savior’s wounds? Foundation, which unmoved shall stay When earth and heaven pass away. 2. It is that mercy never-ending, Which all conception far transcends, Of Him who, with love’s arms extending, To wretched sinners condescends; Whose heart with pity still doth break Whether we seek Him or forsake. 3. Our ruin God has not intended, Salvation He would fain bestow; For this His Son to earth descended And then to heaven again did go; For this so loudly evermore He knocketh at our heart’s closed door. 4. O depth of love, in which, past finding, My sins through Christ’s blood disappear; This is for wounds the safest binding, There is no condemnation here; For Jesus’ blood through earth and skies Forever Mercy! Mercy! cries.