Blessed fountain, full of grace

HYMN CCCCX.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, &c. Zech. xiii. 1.

1. Blessed fountain, full of grace!
Grace for sinners, grace for me;
To this source alone I trace
What I am, and hope to be.

2. What I am, as one redeemed,
Saved and rescued by the Lord;
Hating what I once esteemed,
Loving what I once abhorred:

3. What I hope to be, ere long,
When I take my place above;
When I join the heavenly throng;
When I see the God of love,

4. Then, I hope like him to be,
Who redeemed his saints from sin,
Whom I now obscurely see,
Through a veil that stands between.

5. When I see him as he is,
No corruption can remain;
Such their portion who are his,
Such the happy state they gain.

6. Blessed fountain, full of grace!
Grace for sinners, grace for me;
To this source alone I trace
What I am, and hope to be.

Thomas Kelly (1769–1855) was a Church of Ireland clergyman from his ordination in 1792 to 1803. Relations had become strained, and that year he formally broke with this church. He did not seek to form a new denomination, but the people who followed him were often dubbed “Kellyites.” His evangelical views were influenced by Rowland Hill, William Romaine, John Walker, and the Haldane brothers. Kelly was a prolific hymn writer, producing over 700 hymns. Kelly’s hymns were published in A Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1802), Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture (1804), and Hymns of Thomas Kelly, Never Before Published (1815). “Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious” is possibly his best-known and most printed hymn. “Blessed fountain, full of grace” is copied as it appears on pages 362-363 of Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture (Fifth Edition, Thomas Kelly, Dublin: Martin Keene, 1820). This hymn has been paired with several different tunes, including Hendon by César Malan and Trusting by W. G. Fischer.

In July of 1795 Thomas Kelly married Elizabeth Tighe, and they had at least seven children. Thomas Kelly died May 14, 1855, at age 85. He is supposed to be buried at the Ballintubbert Church of Ireland Cemetery in Ballintubbert, County Laois, Ireland. However, some sources say he is buried near the Kelly family home at Kellyville, Ballyadams, Queens County, without stating that he is buried at Ballintubbert Church. His wife Elizabeth is probably buried at the same location he is.