The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is made up of some 360 men and women, all of whom are volunteers. There are many husband-wife combinations and many families have participated in the choir for generations. Choir members are currently limited to twenty years of participation, allowing new members to join the choir on a regular basis.
The choir was founded in August 1847, one month after the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. The choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to support their organization. Choir members are not paid for their participation or performances.
Although the choir has traditionally been recognized for its sound quality, the most recent director, Craig Jessop, a student of Robert Shaw, has made changes designed to improve the overall quality of the choir. Jessop's efforts to add vitality to the choir's sound include the formation of The Orchestra at Temple Square, the 2005 addition of The Bells on Temple Square (a hand bell choir), and continual refinement of the choir's tone, enunciation, and repetoire. The minimum age for participation has been reduced from 30 to 25. In addition, new choir members participate in The Temple Square Chorale training choir, a combination music theory/performance school led by associate director and composer/arranger Mack Wilberg.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's unchanging love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
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.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's song "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a hymn of gratitude and thanksgiving to God. The song begins by acknowledging God as the source of all blessings and mercy for which the singer pledges to offer songs of the loudest praise. The second verse is a plea to learn from celestial beings through their melodious sonnet, as the singer is already focusing on the Mount of God's unchanging love. The third stanza begins with a reference to a biblical story in 1 Samuel 7:12, where Samuel erects a stone and calls it Ebenezer (which means "stone of help") as a memorial to the help God had given him and the people of Israel. Thus, the singer raises their own 'Ebenezer', citing God's help as the reason why they have safely arrived at their destination. In the following lines, the singer emphasizes the idea of being saved from danger by the blood of Jesus. The final stanza reflects on the singer's human imperfection, confessing the tendency to wander from God and asking for God's grace to remain tethered to Him.
Line by Line Meaning
Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Oh God, the source of all my blessings, come and be with me.
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Guide me to open my heart to Your love and kindness.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Your compassion and mercy towards me never ends.
Call for songs of loudest praise.
It is only right for me to sing loudly and joyfully to express my gratitude towards You.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Teach me a beautiful song that is worthy of praising Your holy name.
Sung by flaming tongues above.
The angels in heaven also sing of Your glory and I want to join them.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
I lift my voice and worship You from the bottom of my heart.
Mount of God's unchanging love.
You are a God of never-changing love and I take refuge in that love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
This is where I offer my thanks to You for bringing me this far.
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
I have come this far with Your help and guidance.
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
I trust that it is Your will for me to continue to grow in faith and love.
Safely to arrive at home.
I pray that I will reach my heavenly home safely, where I will see Your face in glory.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
When I was lost and far away from You, Jesus came to find me and bring me back.
Wandering from the fold of God;
I had strayed away from You and sinned, but You still welcomed me back with open arms.
He, to rescue me from danger,
Jesus saved me from my spiritual darkness and danger of eternal death.
Interposed His precious blood.
He shed His precious blood on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins.
O to grace how great a debtor
I am forever indebted to the grace You have shown me.
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Your grace compels me to live my life in service and worship of You.
Let that grace now like a fetter,
May Your grace bind me tightly to You and keep me steadfast in faith.
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
May my heart never stray from You and always be focused on You.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
I admit that my human nature sometimes turns away from You, but I ask for Your strength to keep me close.
Prone to leave the God I love;
I am sorry for the times I have left Your side and turned to other things.
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
I offer You my heart, Lord, and ask that You seal it with Your love and presence.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
May my heart be pure and holy, ready to dwell in Your eternal presence in heaven one day.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TRADITIONAL, SUFJAN STEVENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nanik Dasani
Come, thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer,
Hither by thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
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.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand'ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.
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.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee.
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,
Seal it for thy courts above.
Rafi Muhammad Zakaria
I'm a Muslim yet I have always found church sermons to be very angelic and soothing. I'm a big fan of your work, Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Thank you for your gift to humanity.
Lady Divine
Yes because Jesus Chrst is real.
Marijose De la Torre
I'm a Catholic and I want to thank the Tabernacle Choir from the bottom of my heart for their wonderful music. It makes me imagine how it will feel to enter Heaven!
J. Stratton
I feel the same way—like I’ve been transported to Heaven!💕
BiggerBrother
Thank you for your kind words. :)
Dan Stephensen
God Bless you, Sweet, Faithful Sister👼🙏👼🙏
Darlene Pedersen
I feel your deep down goodness, your comm3nt warms my heart. Bless you.
Dec
🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
Tim Uibel
I'm Independent Fundamental Baptist and I often dream of singing in an enormous choir like this one. This can be considered a tiny taste of what's to come one day in Heaven for those who have trusted in Christ!
Jesse L
I was lucky enough to be able to sing in the newer conference center (across the street from the tabernacle) when I was about 20. It was astounding. I didn't sing with the Tabernacle choir, just a regional church choir. But it was humbling to sing where they sing. It was breathtaking.