MY soul, repeat his praise,
Whose mercies are so great,
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
God will not always chide;
And, when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
His power subdues our sins,
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Does all our guilt remove.
By Isaac Watts, found in Gadsby’s Hymns, hymn 1015.
Based on Psalm 103:8-12 and Isaiah 43:25.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”