Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Come Thou Fount has been one of my favorite hymns. Part of this was because in an organ-only worship environment, it was one of the only songs that had a rhythm you could tap your foot to, but I also always loved the imagery: God as a fountain, pouring our goodness on to all of His people. This imagery was not resigned to song writers. The greatest theologian that America has ever had, Jonathan Edwards, described God in a similar way:
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.
God is the source of all good, but He is more than that; His glory is also the purpose of creation. God is not just the ultimate good, but the good that we were created for. The overflow of His goodness created us, and experiencing His goodness is our goal. The song captures this when it says: tune my heart to sing thy grace. The complimenting picture is that as we drink from the fountain, we become more and more part of the fountain. Dwelling on the grace and goodness of God will not just fix us, it will unify us to the source.
As we confront God, we are asking Him to change us. To make Himself known in a way that shows us that He has always been satisfying, rather than simply providing some new thing we need for salvation. As we approach the fountain of God’s grace, we drink, not just to be satisfied, but to become more thirsty. The more we taste of God, the more we are satisfied with nothing else.