Mid-Week Poetry: Run, John, Run

Talking about the law and the gospel on Monday, I was reminded of this short poem often attributed by John Bunyan:

Run, John, run the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands, 

Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

This poem (which John Bunyan probably did not come up with) probably came from some mutation of two previous poems. The first was from an 18th century Scottish pastor named Ralph Erskine:

A rigid matter was the law,
demanding brick, denying straw,

But when with gospel tongue it sings,
it bids me fly and gives me wings.

The second version was credited to English hymnist John Berridge by Charles Spurgeon:

Run, John, and work, the law commands
yet finds neither feet nor hands, 

But sweeter news the gospel brings,
it bids me fly and lends me wings!

HT: Justin Taylor