LS-06-The Fount Of Life

The Fount Of Life He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst.--John 6:35.

It has ever been so. In all the ages since, He has broken the bread of life for the hungry souls of men, and they have been satisfied. Men have sought Him with that thirst of soul that nothing on earth can quench, and He has given refreshing draughts of the water of life.

Eight hundred years ago there lived in Burgundy a man of God who exerted a tremendous influence among the people of his day. He was a Romanist, the friend of popes and the companion of kings. In those days when the Church, despite her many failings, yet ventured out in faith to subdue the world to Jesus Christ, it was decided to establish a new monastery in a wild unfruitful valley enclosed by high mountains. The region was known as the Valley of Wormwood, because it was the retreat of a band of robbers. But a house of God was established there, and it was called the Valley of Light, or as it was in the Latin and French, Clairvaux. Bernard was to be its first abbot, and by hard work on his part, and on that of the monks who enthusiastically followed him, the rough land was subdued, and made fruitful and wholesome. But it was not by such a work as this that the name of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is best known. He was a deeply spiritual man. Some of his writings have come down to us, among others a hymn of fifty verses, expressing the soul’s deep longing for Christ, and the soul’s satisfaction in Him. It may justly be called one of the greatest hymns in the world. It has been the inspiration of many hymns that we sing to this day. Bernard’s hymn was written in Latin. One of our hymns derived from it is that which begins:

Jesus! the very thought is sweet,
In that dear name all heart joys meet;
No thought brings sweeter comfort nigh
Than Jesus Son of God most high.

Another, and better known hymn, which is also translated from Bernard’s haunting song, is that beginning:

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills my breast;
But sweeter far Thy face to see
And in Thy presence rest.

Still another, and perhaps even better loved, is the translation of a beautiful old hymn often used in communion services. The knights and soldiers in the Second Crusade used to sing Bernard’s hymn as they kept their guard around the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It well expresses our own thought as we turn our memories back to the cross and the tomb, and look up to Him who ever liveth to make intercession for us.

Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of Life, Thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts
We turn unfilled to Thee again.

We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the Fountain Head,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill,