READING: Zechariah 12-14, Malachi 1-3
I love this hymn, and I regret that we don’t sing it much anymore. I remember the first time I heard it. That’s been many years ago, and the words still melt me. I seldom hear or sing these words without weeping:
There is a fountain fill’d with blood
Drawn from EMMANUEL’S veins;
And sinners, plung’d beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoic’d to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Wash’d all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r;
Till all the ransom’d church of God
Be sav’d, 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.
William Cowper, the hymn writer of the 18th century who penned these words to “There is a Fountain,” suffered from depression for much of his life, even after his conversion. He doubted God’s love at times. In the midst of that struggle, he wrote this hymn based on the words of Zechariah 13:1 — “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from their sin and impurity.”
In Zechariah’s day, repentant people were promised a flowing abundance of God’s love as He purified them, banished the idols from their land, and removed the false prophets (Zech 3:2). When sinful people could not make their way back to God, He opened the fountain of His grace toward them. William Cowper found hope in these words.
So do I, and I pray you do as well.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How much does that fountain of grace mean to you?
PRAYER: “God, I praise You for the fountain.”
MONDAY’S READING: Malachi 4, Matthew 1-4
*first published in 2016
