Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Come, thou font of every blessing


Personal note: Come, thou font of every blessing is a hymn BUT it is also a wonderful prayer. Sometimes when it is hard to pray, I find singing (or even listening) a hymn that is a prayer addressed to God very invigorating. 


During his early teen years, Robert Robinson lived in London, where he mixed with a notorious gang of hoodlums and led a life of debauchery. At the age of 17 he attended a meeting where the noted evangelist George Whitefield was preaching. Robinson went for the purpose of “scoffing at those poor, deluded Methodists” and ended up professing faith in Christ as his Savior. Soon he felt called to preach the gospel and subsequently became the pastor of a rather large Baptist church in Cambridge, England. Despite his young age, Robinson became known as an able minister and scholar, writing various theological books as well as several hymns, including these words written when he was just 23 years of age:

        COME, thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,
         Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
      Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
         Call for songs of loudest praise:
      Teach me some melodious measure,
         Sung by flaming tongues above;
      Fill my soul with sacred pleasure,
         While I sing redeeming love.

            2      Here I raise mine Ebenezer,
         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,
         Wand’ring from the fold of God;
      He, to save my soul from danger,
         Interposed His precious blood.

            3      Oh! to grace how great a debtor
         Daily I ’m constrain’d to be!
      Let that 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.

The above story is taken from: Osbeck, K. W. (1996). Amazing grace: 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (Kregel Publications).

Below is a link to a Celtic rendition of the hymn 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKOoeTbjSeI 

1 comment:

  1. Paul, thank you so much for this devotion and prayer. Music is such a part of our Worship. These old hyms are so full of doctrine and stir our souls when we are prone to wander. I checked out your blog and you have a wonderful church and story.

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