Menu

robert robinson

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Words: Robert Robinson (b. Sept. 27, 1735; d. June 8, 1790)
Music: Nettleton, by John Wyeth (b. March 31, 1770; d. Jan. 23, 1858)

Note: Three stanzas of the five given in the Cyber Hymnal are commonly used today: (1), and the last half of (2) combined with the first half of (3), plus (4).

John Riley comments on this blog (see below) that John Wyeth did not write the tune Nettleton. I’m not so certain we can absolutely reject him, but there does seem to be some question about it. Hymn historian Robert Guy McCutchan says:

It seems safe to assume Wyeth’s composition of this tune along with others known to have been written by him for the Supplement of 1813 [i.e. Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second].”

Robert Guy McCutchan

There is merit, in the parts of Robinson’s work that are commonly omitted from our hymnbooks. The same sorrowing humility that is reflected in “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it” (4) is found in the rest of the hymn. Suppose we were to combine the first half of (2) and add the last half of (3), plus (5). Perhaps it would be seen as too negative for today’s believers, but it’s reality for many! Here’s what we’d have.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin.
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O that day, when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothèd then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Interesting, to say the least! I know there are preachers who want us always to “think positive,” and who hesitate to preach on sin and suffering. But I believe we need the kind of balance that recognizes what we have in Christ, and how far we’ve come, yet is aware of our spiritual limitations, and longs to see more of the likeness of Christ reflected in our lives. We can always be abundantly satisfied with Christ, but it’s natural that we are dissatisfied with our own progress.

The closer our relationship with the Lord, the more we’ll tend to grieve over our own weakness and waywardness (cf. Isa. 6:5; Lk. 5:8). And we’ll recognize how inadequate our praise of God is. Perhaps we’ll cry with John Newton (in How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds):

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

In such as state, and yet with such a glorious prospect, no wonder many Christians long for our heavenly home (cf. Phil. 1:21, 23), and the time when “we shall be like Him” (I Jn. 3:2; cf. Phil. 3:20-21). “O that day, when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face!” Meanwhile:

(1) 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 Thy redeeming love.

Questions:

  1. Is it possible to preach a positive gospel, and at the same time avoid talking about sin? (Why not?)
  2. How does the Lord tune our hearts and teach us to praise Him?

Links:

Today in 1735 – Robert Robinson Born

,

Robert Robinson is the author of two fine hymns still in use: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and Mighty God, While Angels Bless Thee. His story is dealt with elsewhere in the blog, here. He refers in the former hymn of his proneness to wander, and the lyric surely speaks to the spiritual weakness in each of us.

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.

(2) Today in 1805 – George Muller Born

After living a wild and undisciplined youth, Muller came to Christ around the age of 20. Later, in the mid-nineteenth century he became well known for the orphanages he established, and for his policy of supporting them entirely by faith in God, through prayer. In the latter years of his life he made evangelistic trips to America, India, Japan and Australia. We do not usually think of him as a hymn writer, but there is a hymn attributed to him called The Cross of Jesus. (You can hear the tune on the Cyber Hymnal.)

I saw the cross of Jesus,
When burdened with my sin;
I sought the cross of Jesus
To give me peace within;
I brought my sins to Jesus,
He cleansed me by His blood;
And in the cross of Jesus
I found my peace with God.

I love the cross of Jesus,
It tells me what I am–
A vile and guilty creature
Saved only through the Lamb;
No righteousness or merit,
No beauty can I plead;
Yet in the cross of Jesus
My title there I read.

(3) Today in 1872 – Bentley Ackley Born

Bentley DeForest Ackley’s father was a gifted and trained musician, and the son showed his musical talent early on. As a boy he was able to play the piano, coronet, clarinet, piccolo, and melodeon (a small reed organ). After moving to New York City in 1888, he played the organ in several churches. In 1907, he joined the Billy Sunday evangelistic team as secretary and pianist, travelling with them for 8 years. In his lifetime he composed over 3,000 gospel tunes.

Bentley Ackley was the brother of Alfred Henry Ackley, author of the gospel song He Lives! and many other lyrics. Both men were associated for years with the Rodeheaver Publishing Company. Bentley wrote the tune for Oswald Smith’s 1930 song Joy in Serving Jesus, the first of a number of collaborations with Dr. Smith.

There is joy in serving Jesus,
As I journey on my way,
Joy that fills the heart with praises,
Every hour and every day.

Below is an instrumental duet (violin and keyboard) that incorporates several songs about serving the Lord such as: Joy in Serving Jesus, In the Service of the King, Channels Only, and Give of Thy Best to the Master. Nicely done. Don’t know if they did so, but it would be helpful to have the text of the songs projected, so that those unfamiliar with any of them could get the message while they listened.

And speaking of listening–a pet peeve: If you’re going to sit up front, don’t be chatting–as three pairs of men do here, or thumbing through your Bible. Listen! Focus! Behave yourself! I realize there may be occasional times when it may be necessary to say something to another participant. But keep it brief. Do your planning and preparation before. You set a bad example otherwise. How can we expect members of the congregation to pay attention when we don’t?

Today in 1790 – Robert Robinson Died

,

In his youth, Robert Robinson was apprenticed to a barber in London and lived a wild and reckless life. But one day he heard a sermon by George Whitefield on the stern words of John the Baptist to the Jewish leaders of his day, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). The Spirit of God convicted the wayward young man and he put his faith in Christ.

Associated with the Wesleys for a time, Robinson served as a pastor in several churches. He wrote a number of works on theology, and two hymns that we know of, Mighty God, While Angels Bless Thee, and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The latter hymn begins:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

The song is autobiographical in its confession of a proneness to wander away from the Lord. Though a man of intellectual brilliance, Robert Robinson was, in the words of Scripture, “unstable as water” (Gen. 49:4). In his later years he drifted away from God. This weakness is reflected in a later stanza of the hymn above:

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.

In a spiritually backslidden condition, the author was traveling in a stage coach one day. His only companion was a young woman unknown to him. In the providence of God, and not realizing who it was she spoke with, the woman quoted Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, saying what an encouragement it had been to her. And try as he might, Robinson could not get her to change the subject.

Finally, he said, with tears in his eyes, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who composed that hymn, many years ago. And I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I then had!” Gently, she replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.” He was deeply touched by that. As a result of the encounter he repented. His fellowship with the Lord was restored through the ministry of his own hymn, and a Christian’s willing witness.

(2) Today in 1834 James Thompson Born

James Oren Thompson fought with Maine’s 17th Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, but for most of his adult life he served pastorates in a number of churches. He is known for one hymn only, a missionary prayer from 1885. The song says:

Far and near the fields are teeming
With the waves of ripened grain;
Far and near their gold is gleaming
O’er the sunny slope and plain.

Lord of harvest, send forth reapers!
Hear us, Lord, to Thee we cry;
Send them now the sheaves to gather
Ere the harvest time pass by.

The refrain is based on the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 9. The Bible says, “When [Christ] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (vs. 36). In response, the Lord said to His followers, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (vs. 37-38).