Grace, triumphant in the throne, <br />Scorns a rival, reigns alone; <br />Come and bow beneath her sway; <br />Cast your idol works away! <br />Works of man, when made his plea, <br />Never shall accepted be; <br />Fruits of pride (vainglorious worm!) <br />Are the best he can perform. <br /> <br />Self, the god his soul adores, <br />Influences all his powers; <br />Jesus is a slighted name, <br />Self-advancement all his aim: <br />But when God the Judge shall come, <br />To pronounce the final doom, <br />Then for rocks and hills to hide <br />All his works and all his pride! <br /> <br />Still the boasting heart replies, <br />What the worthy and the wise, <br />Friends to temperance and peace, <br />Have not these a righteousness? <br />Banish every vain pretence <br />Built on human excellence; <br />Perish everything in man, <br />But the grace that never can.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/not-works/
