My Savior’s Hands

Hands that set the stars in space,

That guide the orbits in their place,

Hands that formed from dust the man

  To follow in God’s glorious plan.

Hands that wrote His law in stone,

That chose me for His very own:

Hands that came to earth to give

A perfect life that man might live;

Hands that broke the living bread,

Healed the sick, and raised the dead.

Hands that would not count the cost

It took to seek and save the lost--

Yet those loving hands I see

Nailed on the cross for you and me!

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But, my face with horror pales

To see the hands that drove the nails:

Hands that lack in love and skill,

Hands that serve a selfish will

At expense of others’  joy.

Hands that hurt and oft’ destroy,

Hands that mar God’s master plan

And spoil the work which He began;

Hands that strive for wealth and gain

Though it means another’s pain;

Hands that sold my Savior dear

To the mob that scoff and sneer.

They crucified my Lord, divine--

Who can cleanse these hands of mine?

 While in agony I wait

To hear pronounced my awful fate--

 Through my tear-dimmed eyes I see

Reaching out to even me,

With love too strong to let me go,

Those hands that I mistreated so.

Then I hear my Savior say:

“Look to Me and live today!

“I will cleanse your bloodstained hands,

Pay the price the law demands.

Though your hands were once defiled,

I forgive you, my dear child.

My peace to you I will restore;

Walk with Me and sin no more.”

(Jennita Schmidt, May 11, 2011)

"The hand that sustains the worlds in space, the hand that holds in their orderly arrangement and tireless activity all things throughout the universe of God, is the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.  The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated with stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe. And all that He endured...speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt... (He) offers Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. {ED 132.1 and DA 755. 1}