"Praise for the Fountain Opened", commonly known by its first line, "There is a fountain filled with blood," is a hymn composed by William Cowper. It was one of the first hymns he created after his original significant period of distress. It repeatedly refers to the fountain washing away the sins of man.
1 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.
2 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.
3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow'r,
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.
4 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.
5 When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save:
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save,
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save;
then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save.
The Story Behind There Is A Fountain
William Cowper was one of the rare hymn writers that were also a known secular poet. This popular and yet depressed literary character was born in his father’s rectory at Great Berkhampstead, England, in 1731.
After graduating from Westminster, he was apprenticed to an attorney. In 1754, Cowper was invited to the Bar, but never actually practiced law. He was chosen in 1763 to the Clerkship of Journals of the House of Lords. But just as Cowper’s profession seemed secured, disaster hit. When he was interviewed for the Clerkship, he experienced a panic attack. As a consequence, he was not granted the position, a failure that influenced a time of intense depression.
Through his depression, Cowper wrote one of his most loved and provocative hymns, “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood.” It was likely drafted in 1771, first published in Conyers’s Collection of Psalms and Hymns in 1772 and published again by Cowper and Newton in 1779 for The Olney Hymns.
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