Not What My Hands Have Done

Here is one of those songs that I love.  Unfortunately, it's not well known, nor is it consistent between hymnals.  The version I know uses half of each verse as one stanza and does not include all of what I have below.  It also slightly changes some phrases.  What I have below is actually missing one verse from the original, but seems to be the most frequently used.

Since this hymn has such powerful words, there are many versions, including modern versions. Here is one by Aaron Keyes that I like a lot.  I really like the chorus that he added.

Not What My Hands Have Done
by Horatius Bonar

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Of Esau in Hebrews 12:17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;

1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 

Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.

Matthew 9:6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home."

No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;

Hebrews 7:26-27 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.

Of Christ in Colossians 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.

Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood -

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;

2 Corinthians 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Jeremiah 33:8  'I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.'

I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

John 14:19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also."

I'm sure there are more verses that fit with the lines of this hymn.  If you have any to add, please let me know!  I'd love to here about them.  Also, if you have any hymns or praise songs that you would like me to do, please let me know.  I am working on Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone next.  Thanks, Anita, for the idea!

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