A Plea From The Life of Robert Robinson

“Come thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy praise!
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise!
Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise that mount; I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love!”

Even if you have only attended one church service in your lifetime, there is a good chance you recognize this song. Written by Robert Robinson in 1758, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one of the most popular hymns. Robinson wrote these lyrics after converting to Christianity just three years prior in 1755. As he asked the Lord to tune his heart to sing of the grace that the Lord gave, there is no doubt that Robinson recalled the life he left behind for the life that Christ had called him.

In another stanza, Robinson writes:
“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.
Prone to wander, God, 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.”

Unfortunately for Robinson, the words he wrote were a great foreshadowing of his life to come. As Robinson continued to preach, he went from solid biblical doctrine to a denial of the Holy Spirit and the Deity of Christ. Some have said that the final sermon Robinson preached was filled with sarcasm against the Deity of Christ.

This must serve as a warning for all of us. In one instance, Robert Robinson was praising the Lord for His great mercy that never ceases, and in the next instance, he was mocking the Lord.

Robinson recognized that he was prone to wander from the Lord and the enemy still pulled him away.

Every day we are in a spiritual battle, and one of the greatest tools that the devil uses is making us believe no spiritual battles are going on around us. If Robinson can recognize he is prone to wander and still get pulled away, how much more could we be pulled away if we claim ignorance of what is happening around us? Listen to these words, meditate on them, and may they be our prayer going forward.

‍