692. Not all the outward forms on earth

Author: Isaac Watts 1674-1748

Not all the outward forms on earth,
nor rites that God has given,
nor human will, nor blood, nor birth
can raise a soul to heaven.

2. The sovereign will of God alone
creates us heirs of grace,
born in the image of his Son,
his own distinctive race.

3. The Holy Spirit, like a wind,
blows on our mortal flesh,
new-models all the fallen mind
and forms the self afresh.

4. Our souls reborn awake, and rise
from their long sleep of death;
on heavenly things we fix our eyes
and praise commands our breath.