Hymn 55Love Constrained to ObedienceNo strength of nature can suffice To serve the Lord aright;And what she has, she misapplies, For want of clearer light.How long beneath the law I lay In bondage and distress!I toll’d the precept to obey, But toil’d without success.Then to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do;Now, if I feel its pow’r within, I feel I hate it too.Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise;Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose his ways.What shall I do, was then the word, That I may worthier grow?What shall I render to the Lord? Is my inquiry now.To see the Law by Christ fulfill’d, And hear his pard’ning voice;Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice.