Holy Lord God! I love Thy truth, <br />Nor dare Thy least commandment slight; <br />Yet pierced by sin the serpent's tooth, <br />I mourn the anguish of the bite. <br /> <br />But though the poison lurks within, <br />Hope bids me still with patience wait; <br />Till death shall set me free from sin, <br />Free from the only thing I hate. <br /> <br />Had I a throne above the rest, <br />Where angels and archangels dwell, <br />One sin, unslain, within my breast, <br />Would make that heaven as dark as hell. <br /> <br />The prisoner sent to breathe fresh air, <br />And blest with liberty again, <br />Would mourn were he condemn'd to wear <br />One link of all his former chain. <br /> <br />But, oh! no foe invades the bliss, <br />When glory crowns the Christian's head; <br />One look at Jesus as He is <br />Will strike all sin forever dead.<br /><br />William Cowper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/olney-hymn-56-hatred-of-sin/
