Twenty-two-year-old Robert Robinson penned these heartfelt lyrics way back in 1757. With loving reverence and confident humility he invites his caring Heavenly Father to help him keep his heart steadfast for the Lord till kingdom comes. Give it a sing-along listen, then let’s talk about getting right with the Lord when we’ve strayed.

Afraid of God

In our song, notice how beautifully the singer relates to his Heavenly Father. Some people learn only enough about God to be afraid of Him. They hear God doesn’t accept bad people, and they know they’ve done bad things. Maybe they were “in” with God before, but think they’ve blown it so bad they are now OUT. A healthy respect for right and wrong is good. An awareness of God’s power and might is good. But living in terror is no way to live — it’s certainly not God’s desire for His children.

Sons

Think a minute about being a “son” (or daughter). God designed it so a son is the product of exactly one father and one mother. A son may not be raised by his birth parents, but he will always and forever remain the offspring of only those two people. Nothing can erase that biological relationship between a son and his parents.

We read in 1 John, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Did you catch the words “sons of God”? Our Heavenly Father has sons, too. How do you become a son of God? There are two steps:

Step one is already done: you must be born.
Step two is up to you: you must be born again.

To be saved, to be born again, Romans 10 says, “confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised him from the dead.” When you act on those words from Romans 10, God creates a new spirit life in you — a life that did not existed before. At that moment you become a son of God.

Can you lose your sonship? I believe Ephesians 4 answers this important question: “In whom [Jesus] you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise“. Once you hear the word of truth — the gospel of your salvation — and believe, it says you are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. That word “sealed” is big and beautiful. The seal of sonship is as good as all the rest of God’s promises. Good — very good!

Because of seed, you remain a son of your parents as long as you live.
Because of seed, you remain a son of God as long as God lives.

God is forever. So is the new life He gave you.

Sonship and fellowship

Let’s notice — and contrast — two very important words: sonship and fellowship.

Sonship does not change.
Fellowship can change twenty times before breakfast.

Sometimes we sons are in good fellowship with our parents. Sometimes we are not. The same is true between us and our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we are in harmony with His will. Sometimes we are not. There were times I behaved so badly, my parents probably wished I was not their son. But I still was.

God is not stupid. He worked hard and gave much so we could become His sons. He is not going to expel us from His family because we do something against His will. So — what does happen to our relationship with our Heavenly Father when we mess up our fellowship?

Not only did God seal our sonship with Him, He also gave us a way to get back in fellowship with Him when we’ve strayed. How many times? Many. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He knows we will make mistakes. He’s provided a path back into fellowship with Him. The instant we realize we have broken fellowship with our Heavenly Father, we should confess our sins and receive His forgiveness — and His cleansing. There is nothing to be gained from moping around. It’s a waste of time and tears.

But who hasn’t wasted such time and tears? And — why is this such a common experience? And what business do we have asking God to help us stop making dumb mistakes that break our fellowship with Him? If we broke it, isn’t it all on us to fix it? It seems Paul ran into this. Recall Paul’s lament in Romans 7, “For the good that I would I do not”. Paul recognized that even though a new life had been created in him, the old life was still up and running. The battle between his old and new natures raged in him — so much so that he cried, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me …?” His answer is simply, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This song’s lyrics get us following Paul’s lead. Like Paul, we can bring the frustration of our weakness to God — not in fear of losing our sonship, but as sons confident of our Heavenly Father’s love and goodness and willingness to help where we are weak. Remember God did not respond to our sin by demanding we grovel. He responded by sending His Son, Jesus, so we could have new life. What love!

What a beautiful song to help us remember how to praise God and how to move closer to Him when we’ve strayed. When our fellowship with the Lord needs work, we do need to act, to confess, to receive cleansing. In it all, always remember He has not left you, but is faithful and just to forgive, and ever remains the Fount of every blessing.

God bless you lots
-Dale R.

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Download this music sheet

LYRICS: Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
Song by Robert Robinson (1757)

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 redeeming love.

2.) Here I find my greatest treasure;
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,
Bought me with his precious blood.

3.) 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.

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Each time I post a new song and lesson here I send a brief, cheerful note to friends of this song site. The note gives a quick description of the song and lesson along with a link to the new song’s page. It is super-easy for you to get a note from me, too. Just click the green “Song of the Week” button below and you are almost there.

To sweeten the deal, you will also get instant access to the “Music Box” where I put all the free resources and downloads that go along with these song pages. Check it out now! Good stuff. (Side note — I still post announcements on social media, too, even though I have learned it is terribly unreliable at getting the message out and keeping us connected. Email gets that job done where social media fails. We do well to connect this way, and avoid getting throttled by social media.)

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First posted April 13, 2019. New video and updated article posted July 7, 2023.