Classic Poem

Lord , I love the habitation
Where the Saviour's honour dwells;
At the sound of thy salvation
With delight my bosom swells.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound,
Sweet the grace that I have found.

Me thro' waves of deep affliction,
Dearest Saviour! thou hast brought,
Fiery deeps of sharp conviction
Hard to bear and passing thought.
Sweet the sound of Grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me thine.

From the cheerful beams of morning
Sad I turn'd mine eyes away:
And the shades of night returning
Fill'd my soul with new dismay.
Grace Divine, &c.

Food I loath'd nor ever tasted
But by violence constrain'd.
Strength decay'd and body wasted,
Spoke the terrors I sustain'd.
Sweet the sound, &c.

Bound and watch'd, lest life abhorring
I should my own death procure,
For to me the Pit of Roaring
Seem'd more easy to endure.
Grace Divine, &c.

Fear of Thee, with gloomy sadness,
Overwhelm'd thy guilty worm,
Till reduc'd to moping madness
Reason sank beneath the storm.
Sweet the sound, &c.

Then what soul-distressing noises
Seem'd to reach me from below,
Visionary scenes and voices,
Flames of Hell and screams of woe
Grace Divine, &c.

But at length a word of Healing
Sweeter than an angel's note,
From the Saviour's lips distilling
Chas'd despair and chang'd my lot.
Sweet the sound, &c.

'Twas a word well tim'd and suited
To the need of such an hour,
Sweet to one like me polluted,
Spoke in love and seal'd with pow'r.
Grace Divine, &c.

I, He said, have seen thee grieving,
Lov'd thee as I pass'd thee by;
Be not faithless, but believing,
Look, and live, and never die.
Sweet the sound, &c.

Take the Bloody Seal I give thee,
Deep impress'd upon thy soul;
God, thy God, will now receive thee,
Faith hath sav'd thee, thou art whole.
Grace Divine, &c.

All at once my chains were broken,
From my feet my fetters fell,
And that word in pity spoken,
Snatch'd me from the gates of Hell.
Grace Divine, &c.

Since that hour, in hope of glory,
With thy foll'wers I am found,
And relate the wond'rous story
To thy list'ning saints around.
Sweet the sound of Grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me thine.