Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Backgrounder: Robert Robinson
(1735-1790) had always been
prone to wander. Apprenticed to
a barber at 14, he spent more time
playing with frnds than cutting hair.
Then as a wild youth that came to
repentance listening to a George
Whitefield sermon. He became a
pastor and wrote a couple of hymns
Come Thou Fount was written in
1757, inspired possibly by 1Sam 7.
Later in life he wandered from the
Lord and felt he could not return.
But he met a lady in a coach who
shared the hymn Come Thou Fount
to him. He replied: I’m the unhappy
man who wrote the hymn years ago
and I would give a thousand worlds
to enjoy the feelings I had then.”
She responded by telling him:
“Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are
still flowing.” And he repented.
Lord, we’ll Cry to You for Help:
Then Samuel cried out to the
Lord for Israel, and the Lord
answered him… And the men of
Israel went out of Mispah and
pursued the Philistines and drove
them back as far as below BethCar.
Samuel then took a large stone
and placed it between the
towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah.
He named it Ebenezer (which
means “the stone of help”), for
he said: Up to this point the Lord
has helped me (1 Sam 7:9-12).
Father God, thank you for Your goodness & Your mercies to us.
Streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise.
Oh, we praise Your name, Lord.
We are fixed upon it, the
name of your redeeming love.
But Lord, we are fresh and blood.
We know we are prone to wander.
And we can understand why
Robert Robinson, who had gotten away from his Ebenezer. But I hope that I never get away from mine. And I pray that we will always remember that the Lord
has helped us! For unto him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask.
And we pray, Lord, here is our heart. Take it, seal our heart,
seal it for Your courts above.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Come thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise:
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
I’ll praise the mount I’m fixed
upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by thy help I come;
And I hope by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home:
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wondering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander Lord I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.