Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, I jumped to my computer with excitement. I had been waiting all year for this. Since the Christmas decorations were taken down and newness of the new year was sinking in.
I opened my Pandora that was bookmarked on my computer. Pushed the button for my favorite Christmas station and waited to hear it.
At age 17, Robert Robinson and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When the pastor began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years.
On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the ministry. Three years later in 1757, as he was preparing to preach a sermon Robert wrote Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing to complement his sermon.
The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.
When I selected songs for our wedding, the thought of having Come Thou Fount played while we lit the unity candle was kind of an arbutrary decision. I had heard it a few times in church. I liked the melody. The words were pretty. It would sound great with the rustic feel we were going for.
Now, 2 1/2 years later, it's hard to explain what this song does in our home.
It's not really a Christmas song and is probably only in the Christmas playlist because Sufjan Stevens added it to his holiday album. But thinking about Christmas these days, I don't think about the tree or the food or even the presents. This song is Christmas to me now.
The words are hauntingly beautiful and speak so much to how we should worship during this season. It speaks of singing the Lord's grace, never ceasing in our praise. It asks the Lords to teach us how to worship with tounges on fire.
Even in our times of sorrow and confusion,
the Lord seeks me.
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.
When this song comes on the radio, I stop.
I stop typing, I stop working.
I pause.
Every time I hear this song all I can do is lay my head down and pray.
To redevote my life and my heart to the Lord.
It's a love song to God.
During the next few weeks, as time seems to slip away, as the pressure of the season builds up, it's so important for us to pause. To sit in the stillness of the love of the Lord and breathe it in. This is what this song does for Kyle and I. It is a true blessing and continues to fill us with the spirit of Christ and the true meaning
of the holiday.
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.
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;
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.
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{Here is a little about Laura}
My name is Laura and I'm along for the ride.
My blog is about the things that mean the most. The little things that make life sweet, and messy, and silly, and beautiful.
Jesus
my husband and our kitty baby Jupiter
the career that I have been called to
creating
family and friends
food
home
inspiration
pretty things
simple things
real things
I absolutely love this blog. Thank you for the work you are doing for the kingdom
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this song. And your post was absolutely beautiful! I never knew the backstory to this song- that is awesome! Thanks for linking up to Strut Your Stuff Saturday! We hope that you will come back tomorrow and share more of you amazing ideas!
ReplyDeleteCamille @
SixSistersStuff
Thanks for sharing the history of the hymn, that is so amazing. What a wonderful family tradition to bring you closer to Christ!
ReplyDeleteI love this hymn, and I loved your thoughts about it. thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite hymns! I never tire of finding different versions to play on the piano. LOVE!
ReplyDeleteI really like seeing the different crafty artworks with various parts of the song. It makes me think that many of our pretty hymns/songs have great inspiration quotes in them to remember. Thanks.
ReplyDelete