Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
By Robert Robinson
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 redeeming love.
Here I find my greatest treasure; hither by thy help I’ve come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, bought me with his precious blood.
Oh, 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.
What a beautiful hymn! These poetic stanzas are some of my favorites of all the hymns. Even just now, reading through the first verse by Robert Robinson, I am flooded with reminders of the Psalms:
For You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You.
Psalm 86:5
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13:5-6
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Psalm 146:1-2
With such rich and meaningful ties to Scripture in hymns like Come, Thou Fount, I find myself raising up these songwriters and heroes of the faith on unintentional pedestals in my mind. Do you ever find yourself doing that? Maybe not with hymn writers…but fill in the blank with someone you look up to as inspiring, godly, motivational, etc.
While God certainly uses faithful men and women all throughout history to reflect His power, His glory, and His love, it’s interesting when we get context into some of the less-glamorous details of our heroes’ lives. Suddenly…the pedestal doesn’t seem as fitting for these humans, and they begin to resemble you and me a bit more. But before you feel defeated by me bursting the bubbles of your heroes, let’s find out why this can and should be an encouragement to us! Stay with me.
It’s only fitting that we dive into the life of hymn-writer Robert Robinson as our example in this. As the lyricist to this beloved hymn, it’s difficult to imagine anything less than glowing light surrounding Robinson as he sits, Bible in hand, penning beautiful anthems of the faith. Cue the angelic music. But wait!
Did you know as a teenager, Robert actually grew up running with the wrong crowd? You could find him participating in gang activities, labeled a “hoodlum” around town. One day he attended a Methodist gathering, led by George Whitefield—and you might be thinking, “Aw, how sweet!” But, in fact, his intention was actually to spend his time there mocking the people and the message. That was the plan, until God showed up. It was at this very gathering that God transformed Robert’s life. He was saved then and there.
How crazy to think of the trajectory change in his life in a moment! How encouraging that God pursued him, drew him close, and mercifully invited him to new life. Here Robert was, with full intention of disrespecting the Name of God and the message of this gathering, and in turn, God met him with love and mercy.
With that context, reread this part of verse two in the song:
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, bought me with His precious blood
Am I the only one with chills?! The reason I share this, and the reason I’m so encouraged by this, is because Jesus seeks us out. Jesus is seeking you out today. He has rescued you from danger, and His blood has paid the price for the sin that causes separation from a Holy God. Instead of raising up people on pedestals and thinking we could never reach that level of spirituality or we could never be used by God like they are…think of the people God chooses to use in such powerful ways.
You may be familiar with some of the most loved biblical heroes. Check out the less-glamorous details of their lives and see if you can relate to any:
Abraham -Was old.
Elijah – Was suicidal.
Joseph – Was abused.
Job – Went bankrupt.
Moses – Had a speech problem.
Gideon – Was afraid.
Samson – Was a womanizer.
Rahab – Was a prostitute.
Samaritan Woman – Divorced.
Noah – Was a Drunk.
Jeremiah – Was young.
Jacob – Was a cheater.
David – Was a murderer.
Jonah – Ran from God.
Naomi – Was a widow.
Peter – Denied Christ three times
Martha – Worried about everything.
Zacchaeus – Was small and money hungry.
The Disciples – Fell asleep while praying.
Paul – Was a Pharisee who persecuted Christians before becoming one.
Do you see yourself on that list? I see myself! And I’m encouraged that God doesn’t limit His pursuit of people to only those who have it all together. (Because, spoiler alert…that wouldn’t leave anyone left.) Not only does God pursue with abundant life in store, but He also uses ordinary people, flaws and all, in mighty ways to be inspirational in pointing others to this abundant life we’ve received. Let’s steward this well, friends.
Emily Heaton
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