Lord God, the Holy Ghost

Representative Text

1 Lord God the Holy Ghost,
in this accepted hour,
as on the day of Pentecost,
descend in all tThy power.

2 We meet with one accord
in our appointed place,
and wait the promise of our Lord,
the Spirit of all grace.

3 Like mighty rushing wind
upon the waves beneath,
move with one impulse every mind,
one soul, one feeling breathe:

4 the young, the old inspire
with wisdom from above;
and give us hearts and tongues of fire,
to pray and praise and love.

5 Spirit of light, explore,
and chase our gloom away,
with lustre shining more and more
unto the perfect day.

6 Spirit of truth, be thou
in life and death our Guide;
O Spirit of adoption, now
may we be sanctified.

Source: CPWI Hymnal #281

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Notes

Lord God, the Holy Ghost. J. Montgomery. [Whitsuntide.] Published in Cotterill's Selection, 8th ed., 1819, No. 226, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed "Whit-Sunday." In Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 506, and in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 136, the text is slightly altered. This amended text is that given in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, and in most of the collections which give the hymn. Its use in Great Britain and America is extensive.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

BOYLSTON


ST. MICHAEL (Genevan)


ST. THOMAS (Williams)

ST. THOMAS is actually lines 5 through 8 of the sixteen-line tune HOLBORN, composed by Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) and published in his Collection (1763, 1765) as a setting for Charles Wesley's text "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (570). The harmonization is by Lowell Maso…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 11 of 11)

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #302

Text

Common Praise (1998) #254

TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #281

Hymns and Psalms #306a

Hymns and Psalms #306b

TextPage Scan

Moravian Book of Worship #376

TextPage Scan

Rejoice in the Lord #375

TextPage Scan

The Book of Praise #277

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #3693

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #196

Text

Together in Song #404

Include 254 pre-1979 instances
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