Thou, who break­est ev­ery chain,
Thou, who still art ev­er near,
Thou, with whom dis­grace and pain
Turn to joy and hea­ven e’en here;
Let Thy fur­ther judg­ments fall
On the Ad­am strong with­in,
Till Thy grace hath freed us all
From the pri­son-house of sin.

’Tis Thy Fa­ther’s will to­ward us,
Thou shouldst end Thy work at length;
Hence in Thee are cen­tered thus
Perfect wis­dom, love, and strength,
That Thou none shouldst lose of those
Whom He gave Thee, though they roam
’Wildered here amid their foes,
Thou shouldst bring them safe­ly home.

Ah Thou wilt, Thou canst not cease,
Till Thy per­fect work be done;
In Thy hands we lie at peace,
Knowing all Thy love hath won,
Though the world may blind­ly dream
We are cap­tives poor and base,
And the cross’s yoke may deem
Sign of mean­ness and dis­grace.

Look up­on our bonds, and see
How doth all cre­ation groan
’Neath the yoke of va­­,
Make Thy full re­demp­tion known;
Still we wres­tle, cry, and pray,
Held in bit­ter bond­age fast,
Though the soul would break away
Into high­er things at last.

Lord, we do not ask for rest
For the flesh, we on­ly pray—
Thou wouldst do as seems Thee best,
Ere yet comes our part­ing day;
But our spi­rit clings to Thee,
Will not, dare not, let Thee go,
Until Thou have set her free
From the bonds that cause her woe.

Ruler rule, and Con­quer­or con­quer,
King as­sert Thy so­ve­reign right,
Till there be no slav­ery longer
Spread the king­dom of Thy might!
Lead the cap­tives free­ly out,
Through the co­ve­nant of Thy blood,
From our dark re­morse and doubt,
For Thou wilt alone our good.

’Tis of our own fault, we own
We are slaves to self and sloth,
Yet oh leave us not alone
In the liv­ing death we loathe;
Crushed be­neath our bur­den’s weight,
Crying at Thy feet we fall,
Point the path, though steep and strait,
Thou didst op­en once for all.

Ah how dear­ly were we bought
Not to serve the world or sin;
By the work that Thou hast wrought
Must Thou make us pure with­in—
Wholly pure and free, in us
Be Thine im­age now re­stored:
Filled from out Thy full­ness thus
Grace for grace is on us poured.

Draw us to Thy cross, O Love,
Crucify with Thee whate’er
Cannot dwell with Thee above,
Lead us to those re­gions fair!
Courage! long the time may seem,
Yet His day is com­ing fast;
We shall be like them that dream
When our free­dom dawns at last.