Holy Spirit, God and Lord

I was on staff retreat last week, and did not get to Knowing the Score. My intent had been to close Ascension with a hymn bridging to Pentecost:

All authority and power, every status and domain,
now belongs to him who suffered our redemption to obtain;
angels, demons, kings and rulers, over all shall Jesus reign!

Christopher Idle, 1971

(c) 1973 Hope Publishing Co.

As you see, it is a hymn based on Jesus' final words to his disciples, as he departed from their sight and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit.

All the time he will be with us, always, to the end of days;

with his own believing people who keep steadfast in his ways;

God the Father, Son and Spirit, bless us, and to God be praise!

Christopher Idle

Today's hymn is for Pentecost, marking the arrival of the Spirit ten days after the Ascension, fifty days after the Resurrection. Some mark the sending of the Spirit as the birthday of the Church. All recognize it as the inauguration of the promises of the prophets, as noted in Peter's Pentecost sermon and referenced in the epistles. From henceforth God's Law is written on the hearts of his people. So, as we have been memorizing: "the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:4)

Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord!

Be all thy graces now outpoured

on each believer's mind and heart;

thy fervent love to us impart.

   Lord, by the brightness of thy light,

   thou in the faith dost all unite

   from every land and every tongue;

   this to thy praise, O Lord, be sung.

Thou holy light, our guide divine,

Oh, cause the Word of life to shine!

teach us to know our God aright

and call him Father with delight.

   From every error keep us free;

   let none but Christ our master be

   that we in living faith abide,

   in him with all our might confide.

Thou holy fire, our comfort true,

grant us the will thy work to do

and in thy service to abide;

let trials turn us not aside.

   Lord, by thy power prepare each heart

   and to our weakness strength impart

   that bravely here we may contend,

   through life and death to thee ascend.

Martin Luther, 1524

trans. Catherine Winkworth, 1855 (alt.)

The scriptures attest - the Holy Spirit is God, he is a member of the Holy Trinity. To him, let such a prayer as this be made: that he would guide us into all truth, through Jesus; and equip us to walk in that truth and persevere to the end.

Pastor Luther knew a thing or two about the Holy Spirit. And so too, let us follow his example and depend on the Spirit, as we

Sing on!