An interesting blog discussion happened this week about a line in the lyrics of the 18th century hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson. Mark Altrogge, a pastor and hymnwriter, questions the lyric “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love“. Are Christians really prone to wander, and to leave God?
Tim Challies wrote a very good response, seconding a commenter from Altrogge’s original post defending the original lyric, while expounding on some very valid points that Altrogge made.
Read the Challies article here.
I commend both articles to you. While I agree with Challies on this one, I am grateful to Altrogge for asking the question in the first place. I love when Christians take hymn lyrics seriously enough to insist on their truthfulness!
Greetings from Wordwise Hymns. And I agree with your perceptive comment on this debate: “I love when Christians take hymn lyrics seriously enough to insist on their truthfulness!” We should be doing more of that. If our hymns become simply a matter of form, with no thought behind them, we’re getting close to the dead ritualism the Bible condemns.
As to the validity of the line in question, of course we are prone to wander! Unless we are blinded by a theology of perfectionism, we are all too aware of our vulnerability to temptation. If you know the story of Robert Robinson’s life, you know that the author of the hymn struggled with this very thing. Why would God provide cleansing and forgiveness for His sinning child, and a heavenly Advocate, otherwise? (I Jn. 1:9; 2:1).
Thanks for the comment! You’re right on.
I took a look around your site, too. You’ve got some great stuff!