Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, ELW 807
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
Yesterday, we mentioned the grace that is felt when our hearts and minds are "tuned" into God's mercy and grace. Today, we sing the same hymn, but we sing it with a voice of humility and one of true pleading. If there was a hymn written to express our Lutheran heritage more than any other hymn, I might make the argument that this hymn would soar to the top of the list in some 'top ten' position. Verse three states, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love." Yet, God still chooses us in all of our texts this week. God seeks us out through his life-giving Spirit. God seeks us through His Son's death on the cross. God seeks us even when we seek something else. This is the grace that the hymn writer calls us to be in tune with, alongside of God's heart.
Prayer
God of All, we give thanks this day that you have called us each by name through the waters of Holy Baptism. We give thanks that you have never left our sides, even though there have been many times when we have turned our backs on you. Gather us into your music. Gather us into your words of grace. Gather us into your loving arms. Amen.