amazing grace


O thou Giving God,

My heart is drawn out in thankfulness to thee,
for thy amazing grace and condescension to me
in influences and assistances of thy Spirit,
for special help in prayer,
for sweetness of Christian service,
for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,
for always sending me needful supplies,
for raising me to new life when I am like one dead.

I want not the favour of man to lean upon
for they favour is infinitely better.
Thou art eternal wisdom in dispensations towards me;
and it matters not when, nor where,
nor how I serve thee,
nor what trials I am exercised with,
if I might but be prepared for they work and will.

No poor creature stands in need of divine grace
more than I do,
And yet none abuses it more than I have done,
and still do.
How heartless and dull am I!
Humble me in the dust for not loving thee more.
Every time I exercise any grace renewedly
I am renewedly indebted to thee,
the God of all grace,
for special assistance.

I cannot boast when I think how dependent
I am upon thee for the being and every act of grace;
I never do anything else but depart from thee,
and if I ever get to heaven
it will be because thou willest it,
and for no reason beside.

I love, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature,
to cast myself on they infinite grace and goodness,
hoping for no happiness but from thee;
Give me special grace to fit me
for special services,
and keep me calm and resigned at all times,
humble, solemn, mortified,
and conformed to thy will.


((valley of vision; emphasis mine))

Comments

Anonymous said…
hey dams!
so disappointed i didn't get to chat with you on iChat this afternoon....while kristina was refusing to let me say hello.

this time last year we had just gotten back from camping pretty much. so much fun there. hope to see you soon. you're coming to EUROPE with us right?

LOVE YOU!
Anonymous said…
dddammaaaarrriiiissss
that was really good, thank you for posting it.
wow. that was so encouraging.

yes europe!
love you.

(yeah youre a pretty loved person.)
Anonymous said…
dang. you did post it too. haha. that's cool though. and you added emphasis and spacing. mines all bunched. and your picture is cooler. but who's comparing? =)
Whitney said…
hey damaris... love ya tons girl :-D
Aly Sczebel said…
beks i'm sure yours was great as well.

dams, always so encouraging.

thank you
overthinker said…
kara: EUROPE. well i was just in the UK so I can't take that time off work...next time we'll talk. camping, hahaha...fun times...remember the mouse and matt screaming? ahh. God's good.

me (aka the other kara): you're welcome. thanks. someday i'd really like to actually meet you for real! :)

beks: my pics are so not cooler. just look at your flickr. don't be raggin' on yourself all the time. ;)

whit: you already know that you rock my socks off...*praying*

als: I miss you kid!!! you're welcome. your europe trip will come. :)