WHAT is the foulest thing on earth?
Come tell me if you know.
It is a soul by sin defiled,
‘Tis only fit for hell;
It is a horrid, loathsome den
Where evil spirits dwell.
And what’s the purest thing on earth?
Come, tell me if you know.
‘Tis that same soul by Jesus cleansed,
Washed whiter than the snow;
There’s naught more pure above the sky,
There’s naught else pure below.
God’s eye of flame, that searches all,
And finds e’en heaven unclean,
Rests on that soul in pure delight,
For not a spot is seen;
Cleansed every whit in Jesu’s blood
Whate’er the guilt had been.
He sees no sin, but sees the blood
That covers all the sin:
‘Tis Christ upon the soul without,
‘Tis Christ He sees within;
To judge it foul were just to judge
God’s Christ Himself unclean.
O Lamb of God! Thy precious blood
This great redemption wrought;
Not only snatched from yawning hell,
But to God’s bosom brought,
And raised the ruined wrecks of sin
Above created thought.