A Welcome to the Cross

All hail the Saviour's hallow'd cross,
By which I daily die within!
All things for Thee I count but loss:
Enter my soul, and work out sin;
Here let Thy mortal virtue move,
And crucify my creature-love.

Wither my strength, destroy my will,
Stain all the glory of my pride,
My appetites and passions kill,
Be to my whole of self applied,
Implunge me in the depth beneath,
And speak to all my nature death.

O that I now with all could part,
Cut off the hand, pluck out the eye!
Jesus, Thou greater than my heart,
Thine efficacious death apply;
Now for Thyself prepare the way;
Breathe, and the sinful Adam slay.

Thou know'st what keeps me out of Thee,
Naked I in Thine eyes appear:
Reveal the thing I would not see,
The' accursed thing that harbours here;
O, tear it hence, although the smart,
The killing anguish break my heart.

Thou seest, alas! I am not dead,
My nature's life in me is whole;
Again the rebel lifts his head,
And self bears down my struggling soul;
This thorn, I feel it in my side,
The' unconquerable strength of pride.

Still do I live, not Christ, but I;
The inbred sin I groan to bear;
Jesu, with Thee I long to die,
The suffering of Thy cross to share,
Sweet fellowship with Thee to have:
Bury me, Saviour, in Thy grave.

There let me lay my burden down
In sweet forgetfulness of care:
The cross shall bring me to the crown,
The dead Thy praises shall declare;
When all renew'd in love I shine,
Partaker of a life Divine.