What crouds, O Lord, thy name profess,
Nor know their sinful malady!
On Thee in vain they throng and press,
Who never touch, or cleave to Thee:
Thou singlest out the soul sincere,
That comes behind, thy grace to prove,
That seeks abash’d, with speechless fear
And humble faith, thy healing love.
What crowds, O Lord, Thy name profess
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘His disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?’—[Mark 5,] v. 31.” 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 487.
Publishing: Public Domain