I want to start out by saying I have completely failed on one of my New Year's goals. The goal was to complete a blog entry once a week. How embarrassing really. When I saw the date of my last entry I thought "this can't be!" I can't even blame the fact we got a new puppy two weeks ago because there were two weeks BEFORE she came that I could have done an entry. Okay, enough beating myself up over this! On a side note, I have found that I have to do things while the puppy naps!
Let's move along with my previous theme. So far I have blogged about hymns and how valuable they are. We have learned about Fanny Crosby and now we can add Robert Robinson to the list. "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is such a rich song. I just downloaded Chris Rice' hymns album on my IPhone. He sings a wonderful version of this song. It's absolutely beautiful and makes me feel peaceful.
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wondering heart to thee.
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
I just think those words are absolutely beautiful. They ring so true. The verses of hymns paint such vivid word pictures in my brain. There is a depth hymns have that other music does not have. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC. I really do. I just really like hymns too...for different reasons. Let's look at the first line of the above verse. Essentially it is saying that God's goodness restrains my heart and binds it to Him. To fetter someone means to restrain them. Apart from God's goodness and His grace and mercy my heart wonders from Him naturally. This idea is confirmed in line two. Because I am made of flesh my natural desire is to wonder from God. Paul tells the Romans in chapter seven, verse fifteen that he does not understand what he does. For what he wants to do he doesn't. Instead he does what he hates to do. We have a bent to evil. In line three the author gives his heart to the Lord. He wants the Lord to take and seal it for heaven above. How can this happen? How can our hearts be sealed? Only with the Holy Spirit. This song is a prayer that the Holy Spirit will flood our hearts. After all, how else are we sealed for the courts above?
So who is the author? His name is Robert Robinson. He lived between the years of 1735 and 1790 in England. His life started out pretty rough. His mother was of a higher social status than his father. Her father was not happy about her marrying down. While doing research for this entry I realized just how powerful the class system was back in that day. Robert's father died when young Robert was only five years old. His maternal grandfather was a man of wealth and status, but he was so angry at his daughter for marrying Robert's father that he disinherited Robert. Isn't that the craziest thing? An uncle took Robert under his wing for a bit and supported his schooling, but at age 14 Robert's mother sent him to London as an apprentice in a barbershop. How sad is that?! At age 14 he was on his own. Without any support around him he fell into a bad crowd. These young men were wild...drinking and rebel-rousing. They had the bright idea one night to do see a fortune-teller. As Robert sit there with his pals something didn't feel right to him.
George Whitefield was preaching nearby. George Whitefield was a very famous open-air preacher. He had a history in theatre so he could really preach the Word in a manner that attracted viewers. He was a Calvinist. Later in his life he spent time in America and was a major player in our Great Awakening. Without getting off topic into the life of George Whitefield it is suffice to say that it was a big deal to go see Mr. Whitefield. So Robert decided he needed to go hear this preacher because something about the physic unnerved him. Robert sat through the sermon and felt like the preacher was talking directly to him. There was something rousing inside young Robert. I would venture to say the Holy Spirit was doing something. Robert ran from God for three years before he gave his life to Christ. Knowing Robert's "come to Jesus" story makes the words of his song all the more powerful and real. He entered into full-time ministry immediately.
Robinson spent time at a Calvinistic Methodist chapel first. I did some research on what a Calvinistic Methodist is before doing this entry because I had no clue what that was. Calvinism and Methodism are not alike! My brain about exploded trying to figure it out. Calvinists believe in Predestination and Limited Atonement and well, Methodist do not believe this. My conclusion is that Calvinistic Methodists are a hybrid between the two religions. Robinson also took issue with infant baptism. This caused quite a stir because he had twelve unbaptized children! After doing a detailed study of Scripture and reading Christian books he came to the conclusion that an infant is incapable of knowing why they are being baptized. He also dabbled in Unitarianism. Unitarianism is the polar opposite of Trinitarianism. Essentially, Unitarianist believe that God is one Person. Trinitarianism believes God to be the Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Robinson did believe in the Trinity. I couldn't find any other information that said what part of Unitarianism he believed in then. To me, if you believe in the Trinity you aren't sympathetic to the Unitarian ideology. I guess if he could be a Calvinistic Methodist he could be a Unitarian that believes in the Trinity. I digress.
The thing that struck me about Robert Robinson is that he was busy learning about God. From my research he read a lot, he talked to a lot of people, he sought to learn about the Lord. How many of us just are fine with our faith status-quo. We believe something because our parents did. We go to the church we have gone to our whole lives. We think the thoughts we think we should have about our relationship with God. We take Communion because 1. we don't want to look foolish by declining or 2. we take it and never meet the Lord in that place. We just bump along without much thought about things. Mr. Robinson didn't do this. He passionately and actively pursued the Lord. He was considered a Dissenter. He was a Protestant who did not recognize the supremacy of the Anglican Church. He is even buried in a special Dissenter graveyard! I am not saying we should disagree with principles we have been raised with just to be a rebel. I am saying that we should listen for the Holy Spirit and see what He has for us.
He wrote this song to accompany his sermon he was giving on Pentecost Sunday. How appropriate is this song given the true meaning of the Pentecost. On the Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the twelve disciples. The Helper had come just as Jesus had promised in John 14:16. Robert Robinson lived a life seeking the Lord. He fully understood what having the Spirit means. He experienced a radical transformation. Because this man succumbed to the effectual calling we are blessed with his beautiful words. |
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