Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing is a hymn by Robert Robinson, written in 1758 when he was twenty-two, three years after his conversion. It praises God as the fountain of every good gift, remembers how Jesus sought him when he was wandering, and ends with an honest prayer: Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Its best-known line, Here I raise my Ebenezer, comes from 1 Samuel 7:12, "Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."
Robert Robinson (1735-1790) grew up poor in Norfolk, England. His father died when he was young, and at fourteen he was sent to London as an apprentice to a barber, where he fell in with a rough crowd. In 1752 he and his friends went to heckle the open-air preacher George Whitefield. Whitefield preached on Matthew 3:7, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Robinson could not shake the words, and in 1755 he came to faith. He became a preacher himself, and in 1758 he wrote this hymn for Pentecost Sunday at a chapel in Norwich. Robinson later served a Baptist church in Cambridge for many years. A story is often told that late in life he was riding in a stagecoach when a woman began humming his hymn, and he said he would give a thousand worlds to have the feelings he had then; the story is hard to verify, but it shows why the hymn has meant so much to people who feel they have drifted from God. In America it is sung to Nettleton, a folk tune from 1813. Below are the three stanzas most churches sing and the 12 KJV passages behind them.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing: the words
Verse 1
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 God's unchanging love!
Verse 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,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed with precious blood.
Verse 3
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now, 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 from Thy courts above.
Words: Robert Robinson, written in 1758 at age twenty-two and first printed in A Collection of Hymns Used by the Church of Christ in Angel-Alley, Bishopsgate (London, 1759). Text as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (Wikisource), which has Mount of God's unchanging love where Robinson's 1759 text has Mount of Thy redeeming love; Thy courts above follows Robinson. Public domain. The tune Nettleton first appeared in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813).
Fount of every blessing: tune my heart to sing
1. Psalms 36:9
"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing. A fount is a fountain or spring, the place where water comes up out of the ground. David says of God: For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. Every good thing in our lives has its source in Him (James 1:17). Robinson begins not by asking for a blessing but by coming to the Fountain itself. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, flow from Him, and the right response to an endless stream is endless praise.
2. Psalms 57:7
"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise."
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; I'm fixed upon it. A musician tunes an instrument before playing, because strings drift out of pitch. Robinson asks God to tune his heart, which drifts just as easily. David, hiding in a cave from Saul, prayed: My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Fixed means steady and settled. Robinson's fixed upon it echoes David's fixed heart. Both men knew how easily they could slip, and both asked God to hold them in tune.
3. Acts 2:3
"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them."
Sung by flaming tongues above. Robinson wrote this hymn for Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit came on the first disciples: And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. The flaming tongues of Pentecost gave the apostles words to praise God in many languages. Robinson asks to be taught the song of heaven, a melodious sonnet, by the same Spirit. True praise is not something we produce by effort. It is taught to us by God.
4. Hebrews 12:22
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,"
Praise the mount; mount of God's unchanging love. The mount Robinson praises is not Sinai, with its fire and thunder, but Zion, the mountain of grace. Hebrews draws the contrast: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Believers have already come to that mountain by faith. Robinson's original line, Mount of Thy redeeming love, points to the cross, where God's love was proved once for all.
Here I raise my Ebenezer: Jesus sought me
5. 1 Samuel 7:12
"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us."
Here I raise my Ebenezer. This is the line most people ask about. After God gave Israel victory over the Philistines, the prophet Samuel set up a memorial stone: Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. Eben-ezer means stone of help. Hitherto means up to this point. To raise your Ebenezer is to stop and mark how far God has brought you. Many Christians do this at the start of a new year, looking back before they look ahead.
6. Philippians 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. The stone looks back; this line looks forward. Paul is confident about the future of believers for one reason: God started the work. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Robinson's hope did not rest on his own staying power, which he knew was weak. It rested on God's good pleasure, His kind and settled will to bring His children home.
7. Luke 15:4-5
"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing."
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. Jesus told of a shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine to find one lost sheep: and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Robinson was that sheep. He did not go looking for God; he went to mock a preacher. But Jesus was looking for him. The fold of God is the safety of the flock, and grace is the Shepherd who carries the stray back home.
8. Ephesians 1:7
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed with precious blood. To interpose is to step in between, like someone stepping in front of a blow meant for another. Paul writes: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Robinson's danger was not only the bad company of his youth. It was the wrath to come that Whitefield preached about. Christ stepped in between, and His blood paid for our release.
Prone to wander: bind my heart to Thee
9. Romans 3:24
"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! A debtor owes something he cannot repay. Paul says believers are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Freely means as a gift, without cost to us. That is exactly why we are debtors: the gift was free to us but cost Christ everything. Robinson says daily, because grace is not a single payment we receive once and forget. We live on it every day.
10. Hosea 11:4
"I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them."
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. A fetter is a chain on the ankle, and it sounds strange to ask for one. But Robinson knows his heart, and he asks God to tie it to Himself with grace. God describes His love for Israel in Hosea in the same way: I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love. These are bonds that free rather than enslave, the kind of tie that keeps a child close to a loving parent.
11. Jeremiah 14:10
"Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins."
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Prone means inclined, naturally leaning toward. God said of His people through Jeremiah: Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet. Robinson's line is one of the most honest in any hymn. He does not claim to be strong. He admits that even a heart that loves God can drift. That honesty is where real prayer begins: not pretending we are steady, but asking God to keep us.
12. 2 Corinthians 1:22
"Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
Here's my heart; O take and seal it, seal it from Thy courts above. In the ancient world a seal marked ownership and protected what was inside. Paul says God hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The earnest is the down payment, the guarantee of more to come. Robinson's closing prayer is the answer to his wandering heart: he cannot hold on to God by himself, so he hands his heart over and asks God to seal it as His own.
A short prayer
Come, Fount of every blessing, and tune my heart to sing Your grace. Thank You for streams of mercy that never stop. Here I raise my Ebenezer: hitherto You have helped me, and I trust You to bring me safely home. Thank You, Jesus, for seeking me when I was a stranger and for stepping in with Your precious blood. I confess that I am prone to wander and prone to leave the God I love. Bind my heart to You with grace. Here is my heart, Lord; take it and seal it as Your own. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Raise your Ebenezer with the free New Year Scripture plan · Track your Bible reading with the free tracker · Memorize 1 Samuel 7:12 with Scripture memory cards
Frequently asked questions
What does Here I raise my Ebenezer mean?
Ebenezer means stone of help in Hebrew. In 1 Samuel 7:12, after God helped Israel defeat the Philistines, Samuel set up a stone and named it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. To raise your Ebenezer is to set up a reminder of God's help so far. Some newer hymnals change the line to Hither by Thy help I've come, but the original points straight to Samuel's stone.
Who wrote Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?
Robert Robinson (1735-1790), an English preacher, wrote it in 1758, three years after he came to faith through the preaching of George Whitefield. It was printed in 1759. Robinson later became a Baptist pastor in Cambridge. The American tune Nettleton, used by most US churches, is an anonymous folk melody first printed by John Wyeth in 1813.
Is Come, Thou Fount in the public domain?
Yes. Robinson's words were published in 1759 and the Nettleton tune in 1813, so the traditional hymn is in the public domain in the United States. Modern arrangements with added choruses or changed lines may be under copyright, so check the source before you print a recent version.
What does Prone to wander mean?
Prone means naturally inclined to. The line Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love is a confession that even a believer's heart can drift from God. It echoes Jeremiah 14:10 (they have loved to wander) and the lost sheep of Luke 15. The hymn's answer is not more willpower but grace: Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Grace · Amazing Grace · Parables of Jesus · New Year · The blood of Jesus · Gratitude · New Year prayer · Psalm 103 KJV
Explore more: All Bible verses by topic · KJV Bible verses · Verse of the day · Prayers · Bible study · Bible reading plans
