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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Serendipity Sunday: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.....

Serendipity: An instance of making a delightful and unexpected discovery.

"that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise You forever."

~Psalm 30:12~
(photo source)

Some years ago I made the delightful and unexpected discovery of the hymn, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, while watching a movie. One of the characters was humming the hymn. After seeking it out and reading the words, it became my favorite hymn. Portions of it have become my prayer.

This hymn was written by Robert Robinson in 1758. Robert had a rough beginning. His father died when he was young and his mother, unable to control him, sent him to London to learn barbering. What he learned instead was drinking and gang-life. When he was 17, he and his friends reportedly visited a fortune-teller. Relaxed by alcohol, they laughed as she tried to tell their fortunes. But something about the encounter bothered Robert, and that evening he suggested to his buddies they attend the evangelistic meeting held by George Whitefield.

Whitefield was one of history's greatest preachers, with a voice that was part foghorn and part violin. That night he preached from Matthew 3:7, at the end of which he burst into tears exclaiming, "Oh, my hearers! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!"

Robert was greatly bothered by the message and sensed that Whitefield was preaching directly to him. The preacher's words haunted him for nearly three years, until December 10, 1755, when he gave his heart to Christ.

Robert soon entered the ministry, and three years later at the age of 23, while serving Calvinist Chapel in Norfolk, England, he wrote this hymn for his sermon
on Pentecost Sunday. It was a prayer to the Holy Spirit to flood into hearts with His streams of mercy, enabling singing of God's praises, and to remain faithful to Him. This hymn has been a church favorite ever since.

Robinson continued working for the Lord until 1790, when he was invited to Birmingham, England, to preach for Dr. Joseph Priestly. There on the morning of June 8, he was found dead at the age of 54, having passed away quietly during the night.
(photo source)
Take a few moments to offer this hymn as a personal prayer, paying special attention to those last insightful lines:


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.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's unchanging 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,
Wand'ring from the fold of God.
He to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor,
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

To listen to an instrumental version of this hymn, first scroll down to the bottom on my page and turn off the player, then click on the video below.








Blessings,
Miss Sandy

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sandy, I love the words to this old hymn. It's funny, I was pianist at our church during my college years and knew all the words to the hymns, but as I get older and experience more of life's joys and sorrows, I appreciate the words even more. May you and your family have a blessed Sunday.

Vee said...

It is a wonderful hymn. My fond hope is that churches will begin to include more great hymns in their worship services so that they won't be forgotten. Lately, all I do is listen to Fernanado Ortega's music...love his way with the old hymns.

Have a pleasant Sunday, Miss Sandy!

Sue said...

I enjoyed your post very much. I was brought up in church learning the old hymns. Like Vee, I miss them very much. And like Mildred, the older I get, the more they mean to me. This was always one of my favorites.

Thank you for posting about its author. His story reminded me a little of the author of "Amazing Grace" and his mother's "washboard prayers". Do you remember which movie it was that had a character humming this hymn?

Thank you for your post. I may post on my own blog sometime about the "old" hymns. Our church does the contemporary versions...

Have a Blessed Sunday!
-Sue

Lesnes said...

When I was young everyone used to sing - and whistle - as they went about their daily business. Sometimes it was the popular tunes - but also the hymns... I still sing (even when alone) and sometimes even the old hymms from Sunday School days suddenly burst forth from my mouth when I least expect them to... Often reminding of 'old' values. Blessings... Andrina

Susie said...

What a wonderful old hymn. I enjoyed the video so much. It reminded me of how blessed we are to live in such a glorious world.

KathyB. said...

Thank-you Miss Sandy ! The old hymns remain favorites because they are so true and relevant in any and every era and age.

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Hello, I came upon your blog as I was doing some research on a post I am preparing for my own blog. Come Thou My Fount is my favorite hymn and I have been thinking for months using it as a theme for a creative project. I considered a scherenschnitte project but am not satisfied with any I've sketched. Lately, my interest has been altered books. Well, you can imagine my excitement when I found both here on your blog!

I am going to check out your tutorials for inspiration. Looking forward to getting to know you better!

Kindly, ldh

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