Heads up: piano recordings may drift slightly out of sync with the highlighting.
1
Many weary years I vainly sought a spring, One that never would run dry; Unavailing all that earth to me could bring, Nothing seemed to satisfy.
GMany
weary
D
years
I vainly
Em
sought
a
G
spring,
DOne
that never
D7
would
run
G-G7
dry;
CUnavailing
all that earth to
G
me
could
Em
bring,
DNothing
seemed to
A7satis
D-D7
fy.
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry, Drinking at the Fountain of life am I; Finding joy and pleasure In abounding measure, I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
GDrinking
at the Fountain that
C
never
runs dry,
GDrinking
at the
Em
Fountain
of
A7
life
am
D7
I;
GFinding
joy and
G7
pleasure
CIn
abounding
A7
measure,
I am
G
drinking
at the
D7
Fountain
of
G-C-G
life.
2
Through the desert land of sin I roam no more, For I find a living Spring And my cup of gladness now is running o’er, Jesus is my Lord and King.
Through the desert land of sin I roam no more,
For I find a living Spring
And my cup of gladness now is running o'er,
Jesus is my Lord and King.
GThrough
the desert
D
land
of sin I
Em
roam
no
G
more,
DFor
I find a
D7
living
G-G7
Spring
CAnd
my cup of gladness now is
G
running
Em
o'er,
DJesus
is my
A7
Lord
and
D-D7
King.
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry, Drinking at the Fountain of life am I; Finding joy and pleasure In abounding measure, I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
GDrinking
at the Fountain that
C
never
runs dry,
GDrinking
at the
Em
Fountain
of
A7
life
am
D7
I;
GFinding
joy and
G7
pleasure
CIn
abounding
A7
measure,
I am
G
drinking
at the
D7
Fountain
of
G-C-G
life.
3
Here is sweet contentment as the days go by, Here is holy peace and rest; Here is consolation as the moments fly, Here my heart is always blest.
Here is sweet contentment as the days go by,
Here is holy peace and rest;
Here is consolation as the moments fly,
Here my heart is always blest.
GHere
is sweet
D
contentment
as the
Em
days
go
G
by,
DHere
is holy
D7
peace
and
G-G7
rest;
CHere
is consolation as the
G
moments
Em
fly,
DHere
my heart is
A7
always
D-D7
blest.
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry, Drinking at the Fountain of life am I; Finding joy and pleasure In abounding measure, I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
GDrinking
at the Fountain that
C
never
runs dry,
GDrinking
at the
Em
Fountain
of
A7
life
am
D7
I;
GFinding
joy and
G7
pleasure
CIn
abounding
A7
measure,
I am
G
drinking
at the
D7
Fountain
of
G-C-G
life.
4
Here I find a never ending, sure supply, While the endless ages roll; To this healing Fountain I would ever fly, There to bathe my weary soul.
Here I find a never ending, sure supply,
While the endless ages roll;
To this healing Fountain I would ever fly,
There to bathe my weary soul.
GHere
I find a
D
never
ending,
Em
sure
G
supply,
DWhile
the endless
D7
ages
G-G7
roll;
CTo
this healing Fountain I would
G
ever
Em
fly,
DThere
to bathe my
A7
weary
D-D7
soul.
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry, Drinking at the Fountain of life am I; Finding joy and pleasure In abounding measure, I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959) was born at Stord, Norway. His father sold their 15 acre farm in Norway and emigrated to the US, buying a farm in Colton, SD. After he build a sod house, his family emigrated to SD as well. They moved to Astoria, OR. In 1889, Haldor learned English and began writing song-lyrics at an early age. In 1900 the family moved to Roseville, MN where he worked as a farm laborer and attended a Lutheran high school at Hardwick, MN. He sold a few songs at age 19. At age 21 he wrote more songs, encouraged by some earlier ones becoming popular, “He set me free” was one of many. His mother died in 1906 and his father returned to ND but Haldor decided to move back to Astoria, OR, to finish a chemical correspondence course he had been taking. There he found a job in a chemical factory. He started attending a Lutheran Church. One evening he heard the song, “Tell mother I’ll be there“, sung at a mission. It made him decide to commit his life to Christ. An elderly lady who worked there told him about Jesus, and he began attending and working at Peniel Mission, a holiness rescue mission in Astoria, OR. In 1907 he moved to Portland, where he worked with the Peniel Mission and became its leader. He saw many there come to know Christ and felt called to do God’s work. He joined the First Church of the Nazarene in Portland. He enrolled in a ministerial course of study and afterward, he joined a vocal group associated with the Salvation Army called the ‘Charioteers Brigade’, which held street meetings and revival services throughout much of California. As a result of generous donations made, and efforts by his pastor, A. O. Hendrix, he was able to attend Pacific Bible College later named Pasadena College, in Los Angeles. He also found part-time work to help support himself. Lillenas became a music director at a local church, and was preaching and writing songs. He also studied voice at the lyric school of music in Los Angeles, CA. While at Deeds, he met and married Bertha Mae Wilson, also on an evangelistic team. Both preached and wrote hymns. They practiced music at her father’s house and found that their voices blended well. They had two children: Evangeline, and Wendell. They became elders in the Nazarene Church, and she eventually became an ordained minister as well. He also studied music at the Siegel Myers School of Music Chicago, Illinois and composed songs for cantatas, Christmas, Easter, and special day services. He used several pseudo-names in their compositions. He traveled as an evangelist and pastored two churches in California and one In Indiana from 1920–24. While in Indiana, he founded the Lillenas Music Company. His wife preached at their pastorate until he was able to get the company up and running. They published more than 700, 000 hymnals. After selling the company, he worked there as an editor until his retirement in 1950, becoming an advisor for them until his death. That year he purchased a 500 acre rural estate in Miller County, MO where they built an Ozark home called ‘Melody Lane’. He joined the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers in 1938 and received an honorable doctor degree in 1941 from Olivet Nazarene College in Bourbonnais, IL. In 1945 Bertha died of cancer. Lillenas married Lola Dell and they lived in Melody Lane until 1955 when they moved to Pasadena, attending the Nazarene Church there. They made trips to Norway after his retirement where he wrote three books. In 1955 while touring Israel, they sponsored a Palestinian Greek Orthodox family, the Sirhans, he had met as immigrants to the US. After they arrived in Pasadena the Sirhans stayed with Lillenas and later moved to a home Lillenas rented for them. When Mary Sirhan’s husband abandoned the family, Lillenas ensured they would stay in the US. One of her sons, S. B. Sirhan was the convicted killer of Robert Kennedy. Lillenas wrote 4, 000 hymns. He died in Aspen, CO. and is buried at Kansas City, MO. He was an author, editor, composer, and contributor. He edited and compiled over 50 song books. (Hymnary. org)
He died to set me free.
Hymns, #994
Then, there is hymn 986:
What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Savior;
What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord!
Hymns, #986
There is also hymn 322:
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry,
Drinking at the Fountain of life am I;
Finding joy and pleasure in abounding measure,
I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
Hymns, #322
When I sing in this way, all my worries are gone and all the sicknesses are removed. Praise the Lord for giving us so many good hymns.
After World War II there was a desire in the United States for new things; consequently, many new tunes were written for hymns. After twenty or thirty years, however, no one is singing the new tunes; people prefer the traditional tunes. Our hymnal includes almost all the good tunes for hymns. The old tunes are more solemn. This is evident with the tunes for "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, / Let me hide myself in Thee" (Hymns, #1058) and even for "Many weary years I vainly sought a spring" (#322), which has a little faster tempo. Proper tunes for hymns should be neither light nor embellished; on the contrary, they should be solemn and weighty. Brother Nee was very much against embellishing the hymns, because this does not build up our spirit. It is good to write new hymns, but we must adhere to the principle of mainly presenting the truth. I hope that we would understand the fine distinctions here.
At the beginning of a meeting, a brother can call Hymns, #322. According to our old practice, we would sing immediately after a hymn was called. Now we have changed our way; instead of singing the hymn right away, we may first speak it to one another. First, we may ask the brothers to speak corporately to the sisters, and then the sisters can speak in return. The brothers can say, "Many weary years I vainly sought a spring," and the sisters can reply, "Yes, one that never would run dry." Then the brothers can continue, "Unavailing all that earth to me could bring," and the sisters can respond, "Yes, nothing seemed to satisfy." This kind of speaking to one another is wonderful. If at the beginning of the meeting everyone exercises his spirit to speak, the spirits of the saints will be greatly moved and inspired. When we come to the chorus of the hymn, the brothers can say, "Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry," and the sisters can reply, "Hallelujah! Drinking at the Fountain of life am I." The brothers can then continue, "Finding joy and pleasure," and the sisters can respond, "Hallelujah! In abounding measure." Then everyone can say at the same time, "I am drinking at the Fountain of life. Hallelujah! Amen!" How wonderful this would be! The inspiring power from speaking a hymn is much greater than from merely singing it.
We need to praise the Lord for bringing us to the church, where there is a fountain which is God Himself, the source of living water. This living water flows unceasingly so that it fills us to the point of overflowing. It is when we are full of this thirst-quenching water that we can easily overcome whatever comes across our path. By the living water out of this spring, we can overcome all things.
The Lamb, who today is in the heavens, is the One who is shepherding us. He exercises His rulership over the universe, the nations, and the Jews. Yet He also leads His seekers to God as the springs of waters of life. The following chorus from one of our hymns speaks of our enjoyment of the springs of waters of life:
Drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry,
Drinking at the Fountain of life am I;
Finding joy and pleasure
In abounding measure,
I am drinking at the Fountain of life.
Hymns, #322
In the church we find a never ending, sure supply. In this drink we find joy and pleasure in abounding measure. By His heavenly ministry, the Lamb has brought us to a wonderful fountain.
In 1963 and 1964 with much effort I compiled a hymnal in America. One of the hymns that was included is "Drinking at the Fountain That Never Runs Dry" (Hymns, #322). I admire this hymn because it speaks of human experience. The writer thoroughly examined the experience of human life and turned human experience into a hymn. If your grandparents, parents, or classmates have not yet believed in the Lord, you can sing this hymn to them and then, based on this hymn, preach the gospel and speak the truth to them. This hymn is excellent and very inspiring.
When we preach the gospel, we should also be familiar with hymns on the assurance of salvation, such as Hymns, #309. It is not difficult for young people to sing hymns, because many of them have a good foundation in music. It is especially not difficult for the sisters to sing hymns, because God created them in this way. In Ecclesiastes 12:4 Solomon is referring to the vocal chords when he mentions "the daughters of song." When young people sing, there truly is music.
Among the hymns on the assurance of salvation, Hymns, #322, which is about "the Fountain that never runs dry," is a good hymn. Another good hymn is #296, which was written by Charles Wesley. This is not an emotional hymn; it is very elegant. The first stanza says, "And can it be that I should gain / An int'rest in the Savior's blood? / Died He for me, who caused His pain? / For me, who Him to death pursued? / Amazing love! how can it be / That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?" The fourth stanza is also very good. When the young saints invite their professors to a meeting, it is good to sing hymns with them. We can choose a stanza that we like and lead our professors to sing with us. This will help them to receive the Lord Jesus. When we sing a hymn, others should be touched. We should then sing with them according to how they are touched. Hymns, #499 is also a good hymn to sing. If we are always singing these hymns, it will be difficult for our gospel friends not to be touched and to believe in the Lord.
In Revelation 2:7 the Lord said, "To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." According to the entire book of Revelation, the paradise of God in 2:7 is the New Jerusalem (3:12; 21:2, 10; 22:1-2, 14, 19), of which the church is a foretaste today. The paradise of God is today's church and tomorrow's New Jerusalem. Today we are the church, and in the future the church will be the New Jerusalem. Today's church life is God's paradise. In the church life, we have some taste that we are in the paradise of God. At times we may be arguing or speaking corrupt things. But while we are meeting together, singing, praising, and praying, we have the feeling that we are in paradise. Sometimes in the church meetings we are in a kind of ecstasy. When I look at the faces of the saints in a meeting, nearly every face is smiling. This is because we are happy in the paradise of God. This world is a terrible place. Even many of the unbelievers agree with this. In today's human society, one does not have the taste of paradise; instead, one may have the taste of hell. But when we are in the church life, we are in paradise. The paradise of God is located in the local churches! To be in the church life is to live a life in paradise. Eventually the consummation of the church life in the age to come and in eternity will be the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem is the tree of life growing in the river of water of life for our eating and drinking. That will be our enjoyment in eternity. Even today we have the privilege of eating the tree of life and of "drinking at the Fountain that never runs dry" (see Hymns, #322). In the church life, we are in the paradise of God enjoying Christ as the tree of life.