Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, thou Fount of every blessing
The third stanza's confession — 'prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love' — is one of the most theologically honest sentences in all of hymnody. It names the reality of persistent sinfulness even in the redeemed (simul justus et peccator) without pretending that conversion produces immunity to wandering. The request that grace 'like a fetter bind my wand'ring heart' is a stunning metaphor: the freedom of grace experienced as a constraint, the chains of love preferred to the freedom of sin. This is Lutheran theology at its most personal: we need grace not just once but continuously, and our ongoing need is the ground of ongoing praise.
History & Background
Robert Robinson (1735-1790) wrote this text in 1758 at the age of 23, not long after his conversion under the preaching of George Whitefield. It was published in A Collection of Hymns Used by the Church of Christ in Angel Alley, Bishopsgate (1759). Robinson later drifted from orthodox Christianity, and legend holds that late in life he encountered the hymn and said 'I am the poor, unhappy man who wrote it, and I would give anything to feel now the way I did then' — a story that may be apocryphal but captures the hymn's own theological honesty about wandering. The tune NETTLETON was composed by John Wyeth (1770-1858) and appeared in his Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813), one of the foundational American shape note collections. The combination of Robinson's personal text with Wyeth's energetic camp meeting tune gave the hymn enormous popularity in American revival and shape note traditions, and it has remained one of the most beloved hymns in English-speaking Protestantism.
Robert Robinson (b. Swaffham, Norfolk, England, 1735; Scripture References d. Birmingham, England, 1790) wrote this text in four stanzas for st. 1 =Rev. 21:6 Pentecost Sunday in 1758 when he was a pastor in Norwich. The Rev. 7:17 text was published in A Collection ofHymns used by the Church of st. 2 = 1 Pet. 2:9-10 Christ in Angel-Alley, Bishopsgate (1759). Three of his four stanzas Col. 1:21-22 are included with some alterations, especially in stanza 2, which st 3 - pph. 2:7-8 originally began “Here I raise my Ebenezer” (see 1 Sam. 7:12). 1 Cor. 1:22 In his youth, Robinson was apprenticed to a London barber. Although raised in the Church of England, he did not become a Christian until 1755 after hearing a sermon on “the wrath to come” by George Whitefield. He then became a pastor and briefly served a Calvinist Methodist chapel in Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, and an Independent congregation in Norwich. In 1759 he was rebaptized and began a long association with the Stone Yard Baptist Church in Cambridge, England. Following his retirement in Birmingham in 1790, he was influenced by Unitarianism. Robinson published a new edition of William Barton’s Psalms (1768) and A History ofBaptism (1790) and wrote thirteen hymns. This fine text about divine grace and providence contains various biblical images: Christ is the “fountain of life” (Ps. 36:9; Zech. 13:1) from which “streams of mercy” come. But Christ is also our “rock” (often used in the psalms along with “mount” or “Ebenezer,” which means “stone of help”); he “rescues me from danger.” Christ also “sought me when a stranger” (Col. 1:21) and “binds” or “seals” his own even when they are “prone to wander” (see Matt. 18:11-14). Thatphrase may have had special meaning for Robinson, who became successively a Calvinist Methodist, Congregationalist, Baptist, and finally a Unitarian. 654 REDEMPTION Time NETTLETON is a rounded bar form (AABA) with a harmonization easily sung in parts by congregations. Named for nineteenth-century evangelist Ahasel Nettleton, the tune was published anonymously with this text in John Wyeth’s collection of folk hymnody, Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813). The tune may possibly be related to a group of folk melodies used for “Go Tell Aunt Rhody Her Old Grey Goose Is Dead. ” A printer by trade, Wyeth (b. Cambridge, MA, 1770; d. Philadelphia, PA, 1858) is important in the history of hymnody as a compiler and publisher of early shape-note tunebooks. He worked briefly in Santa D
Hymnal Appearances
- Glory to God — 475
- Psalter Hymnal — 486
- United Methodist Hymnal — 400
- Voices Together — 521
Liturgical Use
A testimony hymn about Christ’s love for us, which could be used throughout the church year at the beginning of worship, after confession/assurance, or after the sermon.
Bulletin Note
Text by Robert Robinson (1735-1790), 1758. Tune: NETTLETON, John Wyeth, Repository of Sacred Music (1813).
Preaching Connection
'Prone to wander' is not an excuse for sin but a confession that grounds the request for binding grace — the very awareness of wandering is itself the beginning of return.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- The Definition & Command of Baptism Small Catechism — Holy Baptism
Themes
grace wandering baptism confession binding grace simul justus et peccator shape note tradition