Somewhere in the vicinity of the meat department, I acknowledged to the Lord that this was not a frame of mind that honoured Him. All of a sudden I heard myself begin to sing. Too softly for anyone but God to hear, but I wouldn't have minded if they had, because my burden began to fall away as my thoughts lifted to Jesus.
This is the song I sang. It's performed here by a lovely young singer named Sarah Noëlle:
(Again, there may be an ad before the video -- sorry.)
YouTube video: "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
performed by Sarah Noëlle
lyrics by Robert Robinson (1735-1790)
tune "Nettleton" (likely by Asahel Nettleton [1783-1844],
and/or John Wyeth [1770-1858])
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Lyrics
There are a number of variations on the lyrics, but probably the best-known traditional version is here:
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer:
Hither by Thy help I've come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Oh, 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, 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.
The first verse in the hymnal my great-grandmother used goes like this (see below). I like this a lot, largely because "ransomed hosts above" is a picture that blesses me and that I can relate to more easily than that of flaming tongues. I also like the "boundless treasure" line, at the end of the verse:
Come, Thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some celestial measure,
Sung by ransomed hosts above;
O, the vast, the boundless treasure
Of my Lord's redeeming love.