Robert Robinson (1736—1790) was a very difficult child and even more so when his father passed away whilst he was yet young. His mother could not control him and despaired of his future. At age 17, she sent him down to London to learn how to be a barber, but there he found a life of drink and carousing which suited his wayward nature ever more. Then one night he and his friends asked a gypsy to tell them their fortunes. They laughed and mocked all the way through her ‘readings’, but when she pointed at Robert and said, “You will live to see your children, and your children’s children,” he was startled and thought he had better do something about his life if that was going to be the case. Robert had heard many people talking about a preacher who was in town, who drew crowds of hearers in fields and parks around London. The preacher was none other than, George Whitefield, whose voice could be heard by tens of thousands of folk without amplification. Robert urged his friends to go with him to hear Whitefield. That night, Whitefield preached on Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?” During the address, Whitefield suddenly burst into tears crying, “Oh, hearers! The wrath to come! The
wrath to come!” Robert felt Whitefield was addressing him alone and those words stayed with him. He carried this conviction of sin for three long years until he finally gave his life to the Lord at age 20. By 23, Robert was
in the ministry and wrote the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, to accompany his sermon for Pentecost Sunday in 1757.
Most will know the lines, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” An unconfirmed story goes that Robert did in fact wander, and ended up in his latter years in France and one night when travelling in a coach, a Parisian woman was reading the poem, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, and turning to Robert, she asked what he thought of the poem. Hearing the very words he had written, he wept and confessed, “Madam, I am that wanderer,” to which she quickly responded, “But see, here is the way back, ‘streams of mercy never ceasing…’” and it is said that Robinson repented, and once more returned to the Saviour he had met as a 20 year old.
come?” During the address, Whitefield suddenly burst into tears crying, “Oh, hearers! The wrath to come! The
wrath to come!” Robert felt Whitefield was addressing him alone and those words stayed with him. He carried this conviction of sin for three long years until he finally gave his life to the Lord at age 20. By 23, Robert was
in the ministry and wrote the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, to accompany his sermon for Pentecost Sunday in 1757.
Most will know the lines, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” An unconfirmed story goes that Robert did in fact wander, and ended up in his latter years in France and one night when travelling in a coach, a Parisian woman was reading the poem, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, and turning to Robert, she asked what he thought of the poem. Hearing the very words he had written, he wept and confessed, “Madam, I am that wanderer,” to which she quickly responded, “But see, here is the way back, ‘streams of mercy never ceasing…’” and it is said that Robinson repented, and once more returned to the Saviour he had met as a 20 year old.
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