From the Pastor's Pen

Dear friends,

One of my favorite old hymns is Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.  The text was written by Robert Robinson, a British Baptist pastor, back in 1758 for Pentecost Sunday.  I got to thinking about this hymn the other day when I was reading I Samuel in my devotional reading.  The author of first Samuel had been recounting the terrible moment in Israel’s history when the Arc of God had been stolen by the Philistines in battle.  The Arc of God held such precious objects as the two tablets of stone on which God had written the 10 commandments, a little leftover manna and Moses’ staff with which he had done several miracles.  (Some of you may remember that this same Arc was the subject of a famous, fictitious Indiana Jones movie.)  Anyway, the Arc of God had been stolen and after several plagues befell the Philistines, they sent it back to Israel.

Apparently, however, this incident was not enough to deter them from fighting with Israel and so they came to do battle with them at Mizpah where the people of Israel had gathered to rededicate themselves to the Lord after the Arc had been returned to them.  When the people of Israel heard the Philistines were marching on them they asked the priest Samuel to pray for them, and Samuel offered a burnt offering and cried out to the Lord on their behalf.  The Author of I Samuel tells us that when the Philistines attacked, the Lord thundered with a mighty voice and threw the Philistines into confusion, and they were routed.  Then the priest Samuel set up a stone in memory of that day and named the stone Ebenezer, which means “stone of help” in recognition of God’s help on that day.

You may be wondering what all this has to do with Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.  The second verse begins:

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy great help I’ve come

The whole hymn is a glorious praise to God for rescuing us from danger and saving us when we are in trouble.  It’s a hymn I think we should be singing today.  God is faithful in all times and in all generations.  We trust in the Lord.

I’ll include the full text from our hymnal below along with a couple links for listening.  I know I’ll be singing it in my brain all day.

Warmly,

Pr. Sally

Chris Rice version (contemporary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjfToqk5w5g

Tradition         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm0la9dxQC4

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
Hither 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

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let that grace now 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, oh, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above