TREMBLING, and weeping sore, I dared no answer frame,
For the debt He laid before me was more than I could name;
Low at His feet I fell; in anguish there I lay:
“Judge as Thou wilt, O God! but I can nothing pay;
For I have naught in which Thy holiness can rest;
And I have naught Thy righteous judgment to arrest;
I can pay nothing, and Thy wrath on me must fall.”
Then Jesus spake, “Weep not; I freely pardon all.”
Close to His side I press; I lean upon His arm;
Naught to my charge is laid, and none can do me harm;
This pardon and this peace I owe unto my Lord,
Who blotted out what was against me with His blood.
And now I fain would pay this debt of His free love,
By giving Him my life, my gratitude to prove:
But when I thus would serve, I find I ne’er can show,
By this poor love and stumbling walk, how much I owe.
Therefore, my soul, in patience, waits till He shall come,
Who is Himself the brightness of my unseen home;
Then I shall gaze upon Him, all His love shall know,
And by my Lord’s fair beauty, learn how much I owe.
Forever my soul’s joy shall go forth to His praise,
And love and gratitude shall hallelujahs raise;
Forever His redeeming, mighty love He’ll show;
Forever I’ll be learning, how vast the debt I owe.
A. C. C.