Story behind hymn Come Thou Fount of Every blessing

Tonight I was looking for the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" written by Robert Robinson on youtube. I wanted to listen to it before going to sleep. Anyhow in my search for a version I would enjoy, I came across a video that was a modern reenactment of the story behind the hymn. The video didn't clearly explain the story behind the hymn so I googled it and came across a blog that explained the story well. I suggest you visit this blog. It looks like a great site for learning about the history of various hymns. http://wordwisehymns.com/2010/06/09/today-in-1790-robert-robinson-died/

To summarize, Robert Robinson was a wild youth that came to repentance listening to a George Whitefield sermon. He became a pastor and wrote a couple of hymns. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing was written in 1757. Later in life he wandered from the Lord and apparently felt he could not return. Perhaps as the the story of Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian and Hopeful were captured by Giant Despair, and taken to Doubting Castle, he too fell prey to the devil's lies and forgot for a time the Promises of God. For those who aren't familiar with Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful escape Doubting Castle when Christian realizes he has a key called Promise, which will open all the doors and gates of Doubting Castle.

It is said that Robert Robinson too found he had a key called Promise, when years later, he was riding in a stage coach with a young woman who did not know who he was but quoted the hymn Come Thou Fount to him. He replied, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then." It is said that she responded by telling him “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.”

I truly hope that the account is true and that his relationship with the Lord was restored. There are plenty of people who can write songs about the Lord that are not true believers. However, if he truly believed, repented, and put his faith in the Lord when he was a younger man, then he belonged to the Lord and I have no doubt the story is true.

In my search I found this absolutely beautiful instrumental version by Paul Cardall, whom I had never heard of before. Amazing is all I can say. Enjoy and goodnight. Shalom.

Come Thou Fount and Agnus Dei by Paul Cardall

Robert Robinson was what you would call an “unruly child.” At only eight years old his father died, and he was raised by his loving mother. In spite of Robert’s intellectual giftedness, he had a penchant for mischief. Robert’s mother sent him off for an apprenticeship when he was only 14, but once he got out of the home his life got worse. Instead of working and learning, Robert chose drinking, gambling, and carousing with the wrong crowd. Caught up in his reckless life, Robert and his friends decided to go to an evangelist meeting one night just to heckle the preacher, George Whitfield. Sitting in that meeting, however, Robert felt as if the preacher’s words were meant for him alone. He couldn’t shake the feeling that God wanted him to surrender his life and serve him. When he was twenty, Robinson gave his life to God and entered the Christian ministry. At the age of 22, he wrote the song “Come Thou Fount,” for his church’s Pentecost celebration. It was written as his own spiritual story — a story of pursuing pleasure and joy, and only experiencing it when “Jesus sought me.” Millions of believers can relate to Robinson’s testimony — “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,” and the glorious testimony, “O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!”

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What is the story behind Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?
Is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in the LDS hymn book?
Is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing a Christmas song?
Who wrote Come now fount of every blessing?

Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was 16 years old and running with the wrong crowd when he went by chance to hear the celebrated 37-year-old evangelist, George Whitefield, preach in London on May 24, 1752.

Three and a half years later, in December 1755, Robinson became a Christian and "found full and free forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus Christ." He soon began preaching for Methodist and Baptist churches in the area around Norwich and Cambridge. In May 1758, when he was only 22 years old, Robinson penned "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" for his sermon on Pentecost Sunday. In the following year of 1759, the lyrics of this powerful hymn were included in a small hymnal entitled A Collection of Hymns Used by the Church of Christ in Angel Alley Bishopsgate.

More than 260 years later, Robinson's memorable words continue to inspire and encourage each new generation. Under the direction of Dr. Ryan Board, the Pepperdine Concert Choir and a large number of choir alumni and the Pepperdine music faculty, virtually sang this hymn on Saturday, May 2, to honor the graduating students in the Pepperdine Class of 2020.

To see and hear this virtual rendition of the hymn, please see below.

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 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 rescue me from danger, Bought me with His precious blood.

O, to grace how great a debtor, Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness 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, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.

This blog post is part of a series on the history of hymns, by Dr. Jerry Rushford, Director of the Churches of Christ Heritage Center at the Pepperdine Libraries. For more information on the Pepperdine Special Collections and University Archives, including the Churches of Christ Heritage Center, please see our website.

heritage center

Hymns of the Season: More Love to Thee, O Christ

Hymns of the Season: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Hymns of the Season: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

What is the story behind Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?

The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (KJV). The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help.

Is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in the LDS hymn book?

The new book was to serve a worldwide community of Latter-day Saints. Foremost, it was to be a source of spiritual nourishment, not a museum piece for the artistically inclined." Despite its omission from the current hymnbook, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is more popular today than ever.