scripture and prayer reflection
Click HERE to listen to the song on Spotify
Lyrics
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
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 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 it seal it
Seal it for thy courts above
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take it seal it
Seal it for thy courts above
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
1 Samuel 7:7-8, 10-13
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer [meaning “stone of help”]; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
Psalm 119:10-12
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
Reflection
We sometimes like to think that we are the ones who are in charge of our own sanctification. It is true that we do not grow automatically, just sitting around, and there is certainly effort on our part that is necessarily involved. But while our thoughts, words, actions, feelings, motivations, and choices clearly do play an important role in our sanctification, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is ultimately the Spirit who brings forth any fruit we bear in our lives. We may try to plant good seeds and water through our practices and habits, but He is the one who is actually in charge of the harvest. He grows what He wants, when He wants, and He is the one who gets the credit.
This traditional hymn centers around our need for God’s help in all things, sanctification included. Not only did we need Christ to seek us out while we were yet sinners estranged from God, but we continue to need Him on a daily basis. None of us have “arrived”, or come to the end of our race yet. The “Ebenezer” stone was set up as a memorial to God’s help that far, erected with the understanding that the story was not yet complete. The point was to remind the Israelites to look back on how God had already been powerful and trustworthy, so that as they looked forward to the future, they would trust Him even further. We, in a similar way, are called in the hymn to reflect on God’s past help in order to ground our hope for His continued help in the future.
The ongoing need for God’s help is again highlighted in the third verse, where the songwriter turns to acknowledge and own the reality that we need God’s help even for our hearts to want Him. Some of the most poignant words of the hymn involve a request that God would tie us to Himself, preventing our “wandering hearts” from leading us away from Him. The truth of this need has resonated in the hearts of believers over the centuries, as we each recognize our own tendency to at times run and at times simply quietly drift away from God and from orienting our lives around Him. Our default is sadly not faithfulness and growth. As with every other relationship in our lives, it takes effort to tend to our relationship with God. But even were we to strictly discipline our outward actions and choices, we still are in desperate need of the Spirit’s help to keep our hearts soft and open to what He is doing and would like to do in us. We cannot make ourselves love Him. He must work that in us.
Take some time to reflect on your own life. How much do you tend to lean on your own discipline, good habits, and good choices to grow you in your relationship with God? What comes up in you when you consider the words of the third verse of the hymn? Spend some time asking God to help you to remain dependent on and open to His Spirit, and to see what He is doing in you. Talk with Him about what comes up.