I didn’t preach this past weekend, so I don’t have a new sermon song this week. But a few weeks ago as I was working on the worship service, I wanted to include William Cowper’s hymn “There Is A Fountain.” It is a great hymn, but the last verse leaves us in the grave. What about the great hope of our resurrection? So I wrote a sixth verse. Below are Cowper’s original five verses and my final verse:
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Wash all my sins away, Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, 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.
And shall be till I die, And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, Lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.
When Christ shall come with trumpet sound,
We’ll rise forevermore,
To sin and death no longer bound,
Our Savior we’ll adore.
Our Savior we’ll adore, Our Savior we’ll adore;
To sin and death no longer bound,
Our Savior we’ll adore.
Brian J. Mikul 