Lyrics of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson (1735-1790)

(stanza 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.

(2)

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great 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,
Interposed His precious blood.

(3)

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.

(4)

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.

(5)

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.

Notes on the Hymn

In 18th-century England, a newly-widowed mother prays that her intelligent, book-loving, 10-year old son would someday become an Anglican priest. Of limited social standing and financial means, she reluctantly apprentices him at age 14 to a London barber and hairdresser.

Several years later, strange encounters with an old fortune teller and a great evangelist set into motion a series of events. As a result, the boy became a respected author, theologian, historian and preacher. Ironically, his mother’s prayer was not directly realized. Instead of becoming an Anglican priest, he became a Methodist minister. Later, he pastored an Independent (Calvinistic) church and finally, pastored a prominent Baptist church in Cambridge.

Such are the highlights of the life of Robert Robinson, author of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."