"Ah, Lord, with trembling I confess" is an eighteenth-century hymn composed by the English Methodist leader and prolific hymnwriter Charles Wesley.
The hymn was first published in his two-volume work Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures (1762, Vol. II, No. 30). Focused on the theme of backsliding, the text expresses a solemn reflection on human weakness, spiritual vulnerability, and the constant need for divine grace to prevent falling away from faith.
In 1780, the hymn was selected for inclusion in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (commonly known as the Wesleyan Hymn-Book). It established a lasting presence within Methodist liturgy and was retained in the revised edition of 1875 as No. 317. From this foundational collection, the hymn passed into various other hymnals throughout Great Britain and America. The original text was collected and reprinted in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley (1868–1872, Vol. X, p. 165).
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