Show us our need, O Lord; how lost, how helpless,
How poor, how sunk in sin our carnal hearts;
Show us how vain to change our sad condition,
Our best endeavor and our utmost arts;
Show us how weak we are, and how dependent,
How multiplied defeats our pride abase;
And then—O Lord, lest we despair too wholly—
Show us Thy grace!
Show us Thy grace, the great, the all-sufficient,
Infinite riches for our poverty,
Mercy of God for uttermost salvation,
Weapon that turns defeat to victory;
Gladness unspeakable and full of glory,
Beyond our needs, a vast, unmeasured space.
Lord, as we never yet have seen or known it,
Show us Thy grace!
—Annie Johnson Flint