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
The gospel text from Matthew 18 underlines the incredible grace of God as our Lord deals with the debt incurred by our wandering lives. The distractions of life lead us away from a forgiving and loving Lord. However, as distracted as we may sometimes be, the Gospel continues to call us home. In his hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Robert Robinson summarizes it this way: 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.
Prayer
God of grace, bind us to the promises of your Gospel and seal our hearts in the depths of your forgiving love. Then send us out as witnesses to your presence in every fiber of our lives. Amen.