Hymn Study: There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

11/7/2016

A fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. Zechariah 13:1

Lyrics

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away,
Washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave,
Lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,
Unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward,
A golden harp for me!
A golden harp for me,
A golden harp for me;
For me a blood bought free reward,
A golden harp for me!

’Tis strung and tuned for endless years,
And formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears
No other name but Thine;
No other name but Thine,
No other name but Thine;
To sound in God the Father’s ears
No other name but Thine.

The last two verses of the lyrics above are new to me. I found it interesting how the verses changed depending on where I found them.   Some lines were reversed in order.   Just interesting.   Other changes in this hymn can be found here.

William Cowper is the author of this beautiful hymn, when I read the story of how this hymn came about, suddenly it had more depth to it.   Oh, how Cowper struggled.   You can read the full story here.

Imagine, being in the depths of despair, knowing that you face an examination that fills you with such dread, wanting to end your life and not being successful. Imagine than having the knowledge impressed upon you about how God can erase the stain of any sin.   And thus a hymn was born.   Oh ... so many heart cries come out in hymns don't they?   When we realize fully a truth from God.

This hymn is one of them. Go on....go read his story.

Another article I read changes the story a bit...so it's hard to know what details are accurate. In this story, Cowper wrote this hymn shortly before his death after he was released from the sanitorium, when he was living a little house, with the words of Zech 13:1 filling his mind, writing this Spirit inspired hymn. (source)

Regardless of the truth of how this story came about... Cowper was a man with a delicate spirit and mind, easily moved to depression, with good friends able to help him recover.   People who cared, but more importantly, a God who kept him close, teaching him what he needed to know of him, and it came out in beautiful words.

Good eh?

Lori link

11/9/2016 01:49:16 pm

This is a lovely hymn. We don't sing it often but there is quite a bit of depth to this. If the words are paid attention to, there is a depth of meaning that is touching and heartwrenching. I'd have to look but I think we tend to only sing the first four verses of this. The others don't seem familiar at all.

Annette @ a net in time

11/10/2016 10:09:19 pm

I grew up singing only the first four verses, though all five were in our hymnal. We sing them all in our current church.

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