Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit

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.

Words: Heinrich Held, 1897-1957.