HOLY SPIRIT, SOURCE OF GLADNESS

“Thou hast put gladness in my heart.” Psalm 4:7

Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)

Words: Paul Ger­hardt, in Prax­is Pi­e­ta­tis Mel­i­ca, by Jo­hann Crü­ger, 3rd edi­tion, 1648 (O du al­ler­süss­te Freude); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to En­glish by John Christ­ian Ja­co­bi, cir­ca 1725; adapt­ed by Sam­u­el Long­fel­low, in the Un­i­tar­i­an Book of Hymns, 1848.

Music: Beecher, John Zun­del, Christ­ian Heart Songs, 1870 (MI­DI, score).


Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892)

Holy Spirit, source of gladness,
Come with all Thy radiance bright;
O’er our weariness and sadness
Breathe Thy life and shed Thy light!
Send us Thine illumination,
Banish all our fears at length;
Rest upon this congregation,
Spirit of unfailing strength.

Let that love which knows no measure,
Now in quickening showers descend,
Bringing us the richest treasures
Man can wish or God can send;
Hear our earnest supplication,
Every struggling heart release;
Rest upon this congregation,
Spirit of untroubled peace!