Scripture Verse

I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth. John 14:16–17

Introduction

Words: Hein­rich Held (Komm, o komm, du Geist des Le­bens), in Prax­is Pi­eta­tis Me­li­ca, by Jo­hann Crü­ger (Stet­tin [now Szcze­cin, Po­land]): cir­ca 1664). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Charles W. Schaef­fer, 1866, in the Pen­nsyl­van­ia Lu­ther­an Ch. Book, 1868, alt.

Music: Lux Pri­ma (Gou­nod) Charles F. Gou­nod, 1872 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Held or Schaef­fer (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Charles F. Gounod (1818–1893)

Lyrics

Come, O come, Thou quick­en­ing Spir­it,
God from all eter­ni­ty!
May Thy pow­er ne­ver fail us;
Dwell with­in us con­stant­ly.
Then shall truth and life and light
Banish all the gloom of night.

Grant our hearts in full­est mea­sure
Wisdom, coun­sel, pu­ri­ty,
That we ev­er may be seek­ing
Only that which pleas­eth Thee.
Let Thy know­ledge spread and grow,
Working er­ror’s ov­er­throw.

Show us, Lord, the path of bless­ing;
When we tres­pass on our way,
Cast, O Lord, our sins be­hind Thee,
And be with us day by day.
Should we stray, O Lord, recall;
Work re­pent­ance when we fall.

With our spir­it bear Thou wit­ness
That we are the sons of God
Who re­ly up­on Him sole­ly
When we pass be­neath the rod;
For we know, as child­ren should,
That the cross is for our good.

Prompt us, Lord, to come be­fore Him
With a child­like heart to pray;
Sigh in us, O Ho­ly Spir­it,
When we know not what to say.
Then our pray­er is not in vain,
And our faith new strength shall gain.

If our soul can find no com­fort,
If de­spon­den­cy grows strong,
And the heart cries out in ang­uish,
Oh my God, how long, how long?
Comfort then our ach­ing breast,
Grant it cour­age, pa­tience, rest.

Holy Spir­it, strong and migh­ty,
Thou who mak­est all things new,
Make Thy work with­in us per­fect
And the ev­il foe sub­due.
Grant us wea­pons for the strife
And with vic­to­ry crown our life.

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 cry ev­er: Nay!
Be Thy Word to us still Yea!

And when life’s frail thread is break­ing,
Then as­sure us more and more,
As the heirs of life un­end­ing,
Of the glo­ry there in store,
Glory ne­ver yet ex­pressed,
Glory of the saints at rest.