Olney Hymns · Chapter
Not of Works explained
This hymn by Cowper exalts the grace of God as the sole means of salvation, contrasting it with human works and self-righteousness.
What happens
This hymn by Cowper exalts the grace of God as the sole means of salvation, contrasting it with human works and self-righteousness. It warns that pride and self-reliance are idolatrous, and that only grace, not human merit, can stand before God's judgment.
Themes in this chapter
Grace and Unmerited Favor
The hymn exalts grace as triumphant and reigning alone, rejecting all human works as a basis for acceptance.
Human Sinfulness and Depravity
Human works are described as 'fruits of pride' and 'vain pretence,' highlighting the depravity of self-righteousness.
Characters to notice
- Grace
Personified as triumphant in the throne, reigning alone and demanding exclusive allegiance.
- Jesus Christ
Mentioned as a slighted name when self is the god of the soul.
- The Judge
God as the Judge who will come to pronounce final doom.
- The Narrator
The speaker who calls for casting away idol-works and warns against self-righteousness.
Key passages
“Grace, triumphant in the throne, Scorns a rival, reigns alone; Come and bow beneath her sway, Cast your idol-works away.”
Grace is sovereign and will not share its rule; submit to it and abandon any reliance on your own deeds.
The opening stanza establishes the absolute supremacy of grace over human effort.
“Works of man, when made his plea, Never shall accepted be; Fruits of pride (vain-glorious worm) Are the best he can perform.”
Human works cannot be a valid plea for salvation; even the best efforts are tainted by pride and are worthless before God.
This emphasizes the insufficiency of human merit.
“Self, the god his soul adores, Influences all his pow’rs; Jesus is a slighted name, Self-advancement all his aim.”
The natural person worships self, which drives all their actions, while Jesus is neglected and self-promotion is the goal.
This contrasts self-worship with true devotion to Christ.
“But when God the Judge shall come, To pronounce the final doom, Then for rocks and hills to hide All his works and all his pride!”
At the final judgment, the self-righteous will desperately seek to hide their works and pride from God's wrath.
The imagery of seeking shelter from rocks and hills echoes Revelation 6:16.
“Still the boasting heart replies, What, the worthy and the wise, Friends to temperance and peace, Have not these a righteousness?”
The proud heart argues that morally upright and wise people must have some righteousness of their own.
This captures the common objection that good works should count for something.
“Banish every vain pretence Built on human excellence; Perish every thing in man, But the grace that never can.”
Reject all claims to righteousness based on human virtue; let everything in humanity perish except for the enduring grace of God.
The conclusion affirms that only grace is permanent and effective.