He dares no more himself prefer

Verse 1
He dares no more himself prefer,
Or boast his own superior grace,
But humbly doth his love declare,
His question’d love with warmth express,
Urg’d by the thrice-repeated word,
The man who thrice denied his Lord.

Verse 2
But words will not suffice alone
T’ evince his love reviv’d indeed:
The lambs whom Jesus calls his own,
The sheep he learns of Christ to feed,
And thus his strong affection proves
Who Jesus’ flock sincerely loves.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Lovest thou me more than these? Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee.’—[John 21,] v. 15." This hymn appears in the 1763-64 manuscript “MS John.” 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 1977/573, 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. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 123.
Publishing: Public Domain