“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” ELW 807 and LBW 499
1 Come, thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
While the hope of endless glory
Fills my heart with joy and love,
Teach me ever to adore thee;
May I still they goodness prove.
2 Here I raise my Ebenezer,
Hither by thy help I'm 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,
Interposed his precious blood.
3 Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be;
Let that grace now 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, oh, take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.
Devotion
Tune my heart to sing thy grace (v. 1). My upbringing in the church gave the Lord opportunity to tune my heart to praise God’s goodness. Goodness was close at hand in the caring community of our congregation. As a little boy, I loved my church. People were nice, even loving. Sunday school teachers taught me about the God who rescues us when we're lost.
There were times I didn't want to go to church. Halfway to church, I opened the door of the station wagon, ready to jump from the moving car in a neighborhood we called "Dog Alley." Who knew why? The hymn writer doesn’t say why, but acknowledges the human tendency to “leave the God I love” (v. 3).
But Jesus sought me and rescued me (v. 2). What more could I have needed then or now to convince me I am the object of God's patience, along with everyone else's?
Prayer
Lord God, your grace has found and claimed us. Make of us searchers who bring word of others' worth in your sight to light. Amen.