Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing Robert Robinson, 1759
3 verses, sung to Nettleton (8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7), public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Come, thou Fount of ev’ry 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 thy redeeming love.
Verse 2. Here I’ll raise mine 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,
Wand’ring from the fold of God,
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.
Verse 3. Oh! to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love—
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.
Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1759, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Robert Robinson wrote the words in 1758, in his early twenties, while he preached to a Methodist congregation at Norwich. The oldest printing that survives is in a 1759 hymn collection for the Church of Christ meeting in Angel-Alley, London. It gave four eight-line stanzas with no tune and no author's name. The Hymnology Archive says Robinson's own manuscripts support his claim to the text, and that no copy of an earlier 1758 broadsheet has turned up. Martin Madan cut the hymn to three stanzas in 1760, and that short form is the one most churches sing. George Whitefield's 1761 book changed the singular pronouns to plural so a congregation could sing them together. The second stanza names an Ebenezer, the stone Samuel set up in 1 Samuel 7:12 to mark God's help. Some modern books replace that word with plainer language. The tune most Americans know is NETTLETON. It first appeared in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music in 1813 under the name HALLELUJAH, and nobody knows who composed it. The name Nettleton came later and honors the evangelist Asahel Nettleton, who is not known to have written music. Robinson became a Baptist pastor at Cambridge in 1759, was ordained there in 1761, and served until he died in 1790.
Robert Robinson
1735-09-27 to 1790-06-09
Robert Robinson was born at Swaffham, Norfolk. His father left the family over debts, and at 14 he was apprenticed to a London hairdresser. He heard George Whitefield preach in 1752 and found forgiveness in late 1755. He began preaching at Mildenhall and in 1758 at the Methodist Tabernacle in Norwich. He later became a Baptist, accepted the call of the Baptist church at Cambridge in 1759, and was ordained there in 1761. He served that congregation until his death. His 1759 collection for the Angel-Alley church holds the earliest known printing of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. He died in Birmingham while traveling.
- Hymnology Archive, Come, thou fount of every blessing , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1991 No. 15 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive, Robert Robinson , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
The Bible passages behind the words, with the verse of the hymn that draws on each.
- 1 Samuel 7:12 In verse 12 of the hymn
- Revelation 22:1 In verse 1 of the hymn
- Psalm 103:1-12
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing videos
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Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Hymn 104) | Grace Community Church Congregation & Orchestra Hymns of Grace, Congregation
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Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (2011) | The Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Choir
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O Thou Fount of Every Blessing - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing | Reawaken Hymns | Official Music Video Reawaken Hymns, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Downloads, printing and slides
Sheet music files
- Sheet music PDF 101 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 90 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 78 KB. Opens in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and Dorico to change the key or print parts.
- MIDI, all parts MIDI 3 KB. Plays the four-part harmony in any MIDI player or notation app.
- MIDI, melody only MIDI 1 KB. The tune alone, for learning it.
Practice tracks for each voice part, as MIDI: Alto , Tenor , Bass .
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in E♭.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing?
Robert Robinson wrote the words in 1758, and the oldest surviving printing is from 1759. The printing named no author, and the case for Robinson rests on his own manuscripts.
What is an Ebenezer in Come, Thou Fount?
It is a stone of help. In 1 Samuel 7:12 Samuel sets up a stone and names it Ebenezer to mark where God had helped Israel.
Who wrote the tune NETTLETON?
The composer is unknown. The tune first appeared in 1813 in John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music under the name HALLELUJAH, and the name Nettleton came later.
Is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. The earliest surviving printing is from 1759, and the NETTLETON tune was printed in 1813.
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