Christ for us

“On merit not my own I stand” is a communion hymn written by Horatius Bonar. In Communion Hymns, Bonar published it under the title “Christ for us” (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1881, pp. 73-74). It has eight 4-line stanzas in long meter. It testifies to his understanding of our position before God through Christ alone.
 
His son wrote, “It was his custom at the close of every Communion service to read aloud some hymn or poem bearing on the subject which had been the theme of the sermon and table addresses” (Hymns by Horatius Bonar, Selected and Arranged by his son H. N. Bonar. London: 1904).
 
1. On merit not my own I stand;
On doings which I have not done,
Merit beyond what I can claim,
Doings more perfect than my own.
 
2. Upon a life I have not lived,
Upon a death I did not die,
Another’s life, Another’s death,
I stake my whole eternity.
 
3. Not on the tears which I have shed:
Not on the sorrows I have known,
Another’s tears, another’s griefs,
On them I rest, on them alone.
 
4. Jesus, O Son of God, I build
On what Thy cross has done for me;
There both my death and life I read,
My guilt, my pardon there I see.
 
5. Lord, I believe; oh deal with me
As one who has Thy word believed!
I take the gift, Lord look on me
As one who has Thy gift received.
 
6. I taste the love the gift contains,
I clasp the pardon which it brings,
And pass up to the living source
Above, whence all this fullness springs.
 
7. Here at Thy feast, I grasp the pledge
Which life eternal to me seals,
Here in the bread and wine I read
The grace and peace Thy death reveals.
 
8. O fullness of the eternal grace,
O wonders past all wondering!
Here in the hall of love and song,
We sing the praises of our King.
 
I suggest it might work well with the tune Sessions by L. O. Emerson.