來阿,你這萬福泉源 

COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

「 撒母耳將一塊石頭立在米斯巴和善的中間,給石頭起名叫以便以謝,說:到如今耶和華都幫助我們。 」 (撒上七:12)

 

來阿,你這萬福泉源!調我心弦來稱頌!  

憐憫江河湧流不斷,迫我不斷來歌詠。

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,  Call for songs of loudest praise.

我本外人任意流蕩,基督卻親來尋還;

因著救我脫離死亡,竟然血濺加略山。

Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood.

我今天天被你激勵,感覺虧欠你恩典;

我主,讓此恩典維繫流蕩的心歸你前。

O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

我承認我趨向流蕩,趨向離開神的愛;

但你竟用聖靈力量,將我吸引歸你來。

Prone to wander, 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.

我今已得寶血救恩,脫離罪惡和死亡;

但願我作脫俗的人,顯出神子的景況。

O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face;

Clothed then in blood washed linen How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

我今唱起以便以謝,因你幫助時有加;

我今盼望,因你喜悅,由你帶領穩到家。

Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.

 這首詩(聖徒詩歌第195首)的作者羅賓遜(Robert Robinson, 1735 - 1790)生於英國 Norfolk。 八歲時喪父,家貧無法入學。十四歲時赴倫敦當理髮店學徒,他好學不倦,常因勤讀疏於工作而受責;後因交友不慎而生活放蕩不檢。十七歲時,聽大佈道家懷特斐傳講馬太福音三章七節:「毒蛇的種類,誰指示你們逃避將來的忿怒呢?」聖靈大大作工,經過三年零七個月的內心掙扎,終於降服下來,重生得救。這首詩是他歸主三年後,自述他的屬靈經歷。當年撒母耳戰勝非利士人「撒母耳將一塊石頭,立在米斯巴和善的中間,給石頭起名叫以便以謝,說,到如今耶和華都幫助我們。」(撒上7:12)羅賓遜覺得他心中也要立一屬靈的石頭「以便以謝」來紀念感謝神三年前幫助他征服了撒但,來歸向祂。

羅賓遜是一位熱情果斷、執著能幹,有人稱他是當代的約拿。他的信息坦率有力,表達方式新穎,能激發聽眾興趣。他一生沒有受過多少教育,一切靠自修勤習拉丁文及法文,吸引無數青年歸主。後來引領司布真信主的器皿,就是羅賓遜在劍橋校區所結的果子。

有一天,羅賓遜外出,遇到有人問他對於這首詩的感想。這人不知道羅賓遜就是詩歌的作者,然而由於感受太深,窮追問題不已。最後羅賓遜含淚回答說:「這首詩是我幾年前寫的,當時寫作的喜樂是金不換的!」

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12

Robert Robinson, following the tradition of ministers of the time, wrote "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" as a hymn-poem for the conclusion of his sermon for Whitsunday, 1758. He was 23 years old at the time. It was published the following year in A Collection of Hymns used by the Church of Christ in Angel Alley, Bishopsgate (1759). There has been some speculation that it was written by the Countess of Huntingdon, but it is generally agreed to be the work of Robinson.

Originally "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" had four stanzas. The fourth stanza was omitted by Martin Madan in Psalms and Hymns, 1860 and has not been used since.

The statement in stanza two, "Here I raise my Ebenezer" refers to I Samuel 7:12, "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." Ebenezer is the Hebrew for "Stone of Help." Israel had suffered defeat because of its sin. But the people had repented of their sin, God had helped them and they were victorious. Samuel placed the stone to remind Israel that God had them, their victory was because of Him.

In stanza three, Robinson speaks of being "prone to wonder, prone to leave the God I love". This seems to be a forecast of his later life, when he lapsed into sin, unstableness and involvement with Unitarianism. There is a well-known story of Robinson, riding a stagecoach with a lady who was deeply engrossed in a hymnbook. Seeking to encourage him, she asked him what he thought of the hymn she was humming. Robinson burst into tears and said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."