Scripture Verse

He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22

Introduction

Words: Al­fred H. Vine, The Doom of Saul 1895.

Music: Ma­ry­ton H. Per­cy Smith, in Church Hymns with Tunes (Lon­don: 1874) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Vine (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

O breath of God, breathe on us now,
And move with­in us while we pray:
The Spring of our new life art Thou,
The ve­ry light of our new day.

O strange­ly art Thou with us, Lord,
Neither in height nor depth to seek:
In near­ness shall Thy voice be heard;
Spirit to spi­rit Thou dost speak.

Christ is our ad­vo­cate on high;
Thou art our ad­vo­cate within.
O plead the truth, and make re­ply
To ev­ery ar­gu­ment of sin.

But ah, this faith­less heart of mine,
The way I know, I know my guide:
Forgive me, O my Friend di­vine,
That I so oft­en turn aside.

Be with me when no oth­er friend
The mys­te­ry of my heart can share;
And be Thou known, when fears trans­cend,
By Thy best name of Com­fort­er.