Hymn
Not What These Hands Have Done
Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers, and sighs, and tears
Can bear my awful load.
Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy pow'r alone, O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work save Thine,
No other blood will do;
No strength save that which is divine
Can bear me safely through.
I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfalt'ring lip and heart
I call this Savior mine.
'Tis He that saveth me,
And freely pardon gives;
I love, because He loveth me;
I live, because He lives.
Not What These Hands Have Done — Text from The New Christian Hymnal, 1929. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/not-what-these-hands-have-done
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote Not What These Hands Have Done?
The words of Not What These Hands Have Done were written by Horatius Bonar; the version here was published in 1929. The library holds 19 more hymns by Horatius Bonar, including Come, Lord, and tarry not and Make haste, O man, to live.
Is Not What These Hands Have Done public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from The New Christian Hymnal, published in 1929. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.
What is the metre of Not What These Hands Have Done?
Not What These Hands Have Done is in Short Metre (6.6.8.6). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, Bounteous in Mercy and Goodness, Jesus, I Live to Thee and Struggling After Christ.