Classic Hymns,  Music

Come Thou Fount performed by Kings Kaleidoscope

Robert Robinson, the author of the hymn, was born at Swaffham in Norfolk, England, on September 27, 1735. His parents had planned for him to become a clergyman in the Church of England, but his father died while he was still a boy, leaving his mother in dire straits. Her only choice, it seemed, was to indenture him to a hairdresser in London when he became 15 years old. He was released from his indentures at age 17. Robinson remained in London until 1758. During this time, he devoted himself to reading and to listening to the sermons of George Whitefield, one of the founders of Methodism. Whitefield’s preaching about the “wrath to come” drove Robert to walk in darkness and fear for the remainder of his teen years, until he found “peace in believing.” His years as a Nonconformist preacher were very successful. (Nonconformists were Christians who belonged to churches other than the Church of England.) He preached first at a Calvinistic Methodist chapel, then a Congregational Chapel, and finally a Baptist chapel. He died on June 9, 1790, prematurely worn out from living an exhaustively full life and writing theological works that seldom wavered in his quest for Nonconformity.

Robinson authored only two hymns: “Brightness of Eternal Glory” and “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Several editors have revised this hymn, reducing the original five stanzas to four or three. One rather zealous editor(s) transposed text lines within the first verse and made significant changes within the third. The final verse from the original text is shown below. Four of five versions have omitted it from the hymn, including the hymnals used in Lutheran churches.

HT: Len Berghaus

Come Thou Fount: What do you think?

What do you think about this hymn? Positives? Negatives?

Why do you think verse five has often been omitted when sung by Lutherans?

What do you make of the following from verse 4?

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, / Seal it for Thy courts above.

Come Thou Fount: Lyrics

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.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
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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;
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 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.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed 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.

kingspicCome Thou Fount: About the Performers

King’s Kaleidoscope is an indie rock band that leads worship at Mars Hill Church U-District. Made up primarily of about a dozen college students, the band has been leveraging their college years to create some of the most original worship music around. King’s Kaleidoscope is led by Deacon Chad Gardner, who has been playing and arranging music his whole life.

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