Blacker far in my own eyes

Blacker far in my own eyes
Than the foulest slaves of vice,
Saviour, I have no pretence
To the place of innocence:
Yet, my God, I humbly pray
Suffer me with Thee to stay,
In thy loving heart t’ abide
Never leave thy wounded side.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He that had been possessed, prayed him that he might be with him.’—[Mark 5,] v. 18.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Mark.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/574, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 484.
Publishing: Public Domain