Blessed Are the Merciful

It was an awful hour that gave
  Thee, Lord, the strength to win
Unholy men up from the grave
  Of darkness and of sin.

And is this all thou dost require
  For thy forgiveness now⁠—
That we to loftier bliss aspire
  By doing even as thou?

Thou risest on our darksome earth,
  Radiant of human light,
That men may see, recall their birth,
  And claim its lofty right;

The right to pardon and to bless,
  By service high to rule;
Upheld with wealth of tenderness
  From God the pitiful.