Come Thou Fount

I have always really liked the song, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."  I think it is a beautiful melody and people cover it with great harmonies.  I think I first heard it when I heard Nickle Creek sing it as an encore once.  My favorite Tabernacle Choir album is the one with all the Americana songs on it and that album includes "Fount."

I do NOT like to use the word "trials."  It is right up there with "epic," "moist," "Cali," "YOLO," and other dumb words on the Haley-Annie-and-Willie-List-of-Words-To-Never-Use.  However, sometimes things are just hard.

This week I may have written in an e-mail to my mother and even said out loud that I believe God gives us what we can handle, but I honestly don't think I could handle any more.  I've prayed.  I've read.  I've even shed a few tears.

Tonight while sitting with Jack until he fell asleep, an instrumental version of "Come Thou Fount" came on my phone amidst the quiet, sleeping songs.  After he was asleep, I decided to look up the words. I've always like the song, but never really understood what it was talking about until now.  Holy cow! The words to this song are amazing.  This song just gave me some clarity.  I was on the brink of not being able to handle one more thing, but that was it.  I was given some mercy and brought back from the brink.  The test is far from over, but I think I just passed a big section of it.

I was never very good at interpreting poetry, but here are the lyrics with my annotations.

Come thou fount of every blessing -Blessings run like fountains, we just need to notice how freely they are running.  
Tune my heart to sing thy grace - Like an instrument, our hearts need a little tuning in order to be grateful for thy blessings.
Streams of mercy never ceasing - Just like the blessings, the Lord is streaming mercy upon us.  We just have to recognize it.
Call for songs of loudest praise - Those streams of mercy and founts of blessings deserve very loud and deliberate praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above - Wow!  Teach me what I still need to know, even sonnets sung by flaming tongues.  This song is a metaphor for how we can be tuned, played, sung like a fine piece of music or a well-played instrument.
I'll praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer - I always think of "raising my Ebenezer" as that famous photograph of raising the flag at Iwo Jima. We did it!  Success!
Hither by thy help I come -  . . . But it wasn't without a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  Plus, after that flag was raised, the troubles at Iwo Jima had only just started.  Yet, the photograph of the flag ultimately meant victory and has stood the test of time.
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home - This reminds me of a little kid's prayer.  Every Sunday in primary, the children in their opening and closing prayers almost always pray to "get home safely."  It is such a simple and silly thing to pray for yet, it is really all we want, right?  Do you day's work and return home safely to your family.  Do you life's work and return, with your family, to your Father In Heaven.  

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God - Is it "wondering" or "wandering?"  I don't think I've ever "wandered" from Christ, but I have definitely "wondered" away a time or two and  . . . 
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood -  . . . I always come back, rescued if you will. 

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 - A "Fetter" is like an ankle chain for a prisoner.  Goodness acts like a fetter to bind us to Christ.  How cool is  it that we are "imprisoned" by goodness.  Sounds like a terrible punishment, right?
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 - Give your heart, give your all to thee, and your eternity is sealed.  You did it!


 

There are lots of nice versions of this song, but I think I still like this one best.