Raiders Of The Lost Stanzas
Today's Hymn: There Is A Fountain
author: William Cowper
verse/stanza 1
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel'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.
This has been one of my favorite lines to sing for as long as I can remember. Even before I understood what the words were saying, I knew that this song was saying something important. I've had the line "lose all their guilty stains" burned into my thoughts since I was an infant. The idea that all of my sins could be taken away has always been there in my mind. I have always been conscious of the fact that there was a Saviour and that I needed to know Him. I guess that was a good thing, eh?
However, I will confess that as I sit here reading through the complete hymn, I've noticed a verse/stanza that I have never paid much attention to before. In the Churches of Christ I have attended during my lifetime, we rarely sang complete hymns. We like to joke on our praise team that we do the first, second and last verses of all songs and stand when singing the last. As I sit and think back over my childhood church experience, that seems less of a joke and more of an actual observation. I'm not trying to be critical though, I'm just pointing out that we have overlooked some very good words and here is one such verse.
verse/stanza 2
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.
How much closer would I be to Christ now if that verse had also been burned into my thought processes at an eary age? Now, I'm not saying that those words have some sort of magical powers and that they would have given me all the answers, but if that "redeeming love" had indeed been my theme, how many detours would I have avoided over the past 30+ years? Just something to ponder.That being said, I think I'm going to go through my copy of Favorite Hymns Of Praise and see what other little tidbits I might find there. I'll share them with you all as I find them
author: William Cowper
verse/stanza 1
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel'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.
This has been one of my favorite lines to sing for as long as I can remember. Even before I understood what the words were saying, I knew that this song was saying something important. I've had the line "lose all their guilty stains" burned into my thoughts since I was an infant. The idea that all of my sins could be taken away has always been there in my mind. I have always been conscious of the fact that there was a Saviour and that I needed to know Him. I guess that was a good thing, eh?
However, I will confess that as I sit here reading through the complete hymn, I've noticed a verse/stanza that I have never paid much attention to before. In the Churches of Christ I have attended during my lifetime, we rarely sang complete hymns. We like to joke on our praise team that we do the first, second and last verses of all songs and stand when singing the last. As I sit and think back over my childhood church experience, that seems less of a joke and more of an actual observation. I'm not trying to be critical though, I'm just pointing out that we have overlooked some very good words and here is one such verse.
verse/stanza 2
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.
How much closer would I be to Christ now if that verse had also been burned into my thought processes at an eary age? Now, I'm not saying that those words have some sort of magical powers and that they would have given me all the answers, but if that "redeeming love" had indeed been my theme, how many detours would I have avoided over the past 30+ years? Just something to ponder.That being said, I think I'm going to go through my copy of Favorite Hymns Of Praise and see what other little tidbits I might find there. I'll share them with you all as I find them
posted by Lee | 11:05 AM
1 Comments:
This has been one of my favs as well, however in the "southern baptist church" I grew up in, we had to sing all the verses, so they all kinda ran together. I don't remember anything but the first verse of most songs with the exception of a very select few like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art... I enjoy looking at the words now as an adult, I have learned to "feel" the words. Great experience.
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