Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit

Tune: Meine Seel mit allem Fleisse

Alternate Tunes

 

Tune: Gott des Himmels

Tune: Jesu, du, du bist mein Leben

Tune: Komm, o komm, du Geist

 

  1. Come, O Come, Thou quick’ning Spirit,
    God from all eternity!
    Let us Thy blest grace inherit
    And our souls be filled with Thee;
    Then shall spirit, life, and light
    From our hearts drive out the night.

  2. Grant our hearts Thy heav’nly treasure:
    Wisdom, counsel, purity,
    That in naught we may take pleasure
    Save in that which pleaseth Thee.
    Let Thy knowledge spread and grow,
    Working error’s overthrow.

  3. Lead us to our soul’s salvation,
    Keep us in the paths of grace,
    Shield us from the world’s temptation
    Lest it foil us in the race;
    When we stumble, hear our call,
    Work repentance for our fall.

  4. Let us trust Thy witness wholly
    That we are the sons of God
    Who rely upon Him solely
    When we pass beneath the rod;
    For the Father’s chastenings
    Bless above all earthly things.

  5. Prompt us e’er to come before Him
    Joyously with hope in view;
    Sigh in us when we implore Him,
    Ever plead for us anew;
    Then our pray’r shall not be vain,
    And our faith new strength shall gain.

  6. If our soul for comfort languish
    And despondency grow strong,
    That the heart must cry in anguish:
    “O my God, my God, how long!”
    Comfort then the aching breast,
    Grant us courage, patience, rest.

  7. Mighty Spirit of reliance,
    Sure Defense in all our need,
    When the Foe bids us defiance,
    Bid Thy work in us Godspeed!
    Grant us weapons for the strife
    And with vict’ry crown our life.

  8. Guard, O God, our faith forever;
    Let not Satan, death, or shame
    Ever part us from our Savior;
    Lord, our Refuge is Thy name.
    Though our flesh would fain say Nay,
    Be Thy Word to us still Yea.

  9. And when death life’s thread is rending,
    Then assure us all the more,
    As the heirs of life unending,
    Of the glory there in store
    Which can never be expressed,
    But with which we shall be blessed.

Komm, o komm, du Geist des Lebens
Heinrich Held, c. 1664
Tr. Charles W. Schaeffer, 1866, alt.
Source: Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book, 1930, No. 246, alt.

German Text (coming soon)

The first appearance of this text, according to Fischer-Tümpel, Vol. I, No. 413, is in an edition of Johann Crüger’s Praxis pietatis melica, Berlin, 1661, p. 385, where it is directed to be sung “Auff die 146. Französische Psalmweise,” i.e., to the tune for the 146th Psalm in the French Psalter. That tune, as it appears, e.g., in Lobwasser’s Psalter of 1576 in the four-part setting of Claude Goudimel, matches the meter of Held’s text and has been selected as the chief tune for this text at the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book.

Other tunes, however, have been associated with this text. It appears in Niedling’s Geistliche Wasserquelle, 1667, p. 372, where the tune is given as Gott des Himmels. Later editions of C.F.W. Walther’s Kirchen-Gesangbuch list this as the tune as well. Earlier editions of Walther’s hymnal give the tune as “Jesus, Jesus, nichts als Jesus” (actually “Jesu, du, du bist mein Leben“), which is, however, different from the tune of that name in The Lutheran Hymnal. Finally, The Lutheran Hymnal gives the tune as “Komm, o komm, du Geist,” a 1680 composition of J. Christoph Bach.