New Songs on the Trinity and Holy Spirit

Over the past few weeks, including Camp, we’ve had a chance to introduce a few new songs to our regularly church song line up. These songs especially have focused on what we’ve been aiming at in our current sermon series: a biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit.

Finding songs about or at least referring to the Holy Spirit isn’t difficult. Finding songs which teach biblically what the role and work of the Spirit is…now that’s a challenge! But we’ve been blessed of late with great song writers from the church universal who have helped craft excellent singable songs to teach us and encourage each other in understanding the Spirit and exalting his work of glorifying the Son and Father.

The first one introduced was ‘Holy Spirit Living Breath of God’. The song is written by modern hymnists Keith and Kristen Getty who also brought us Speak O Lord, The Power of the Cross, There Is A Higher Throne, Come People of the Risen King, Still My Soul Be Still, By Faith and, with the help of Stuart Townend, In Christ Alone, How Deep the Father’s Love and My Heart is Filled With Thankfulness.

So as you can tell they’ve written many quality songs! And ‘Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God’ is no different.

Analysis:

The first verse contains an interesting phrase ‘breathe new life into my willing soul’. This request is made by the Christian rather than the non-Christian seeking new life in Christ (for we know that our hearts are incapable and unwilling to change – from the first sermon in our series).

The song itself asks the Spirit to do things which we should expect – renewing our hearts and faith, giving us a passion for God’s purity, abiding within us, seeking the Spirit’s help and joy as it transforms our lives in each thought, deed and attitude, and doing all these things so that Christ may be glorified.

Here is a youtube clip with the song.

Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
CCCL: 52590
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
© 2006 Thankyou Music

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.

Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within;
May Your joy be seen in all I do—
Love enough to cover ev’ry sin
In each thought and deed and attitude,
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see.

The second song we introduced last week is ‘Your Words of Life’ by Joel and Pat Sczebel. Pat Sczebel also wrote ‘Jesus, Thank You’ that some of us are familiar with as well.

Analysis:

The song is addressed to both the Spirit and Jesus, the Word of Life (in the bridge). It begins by acknowledging that the church is a gathering of God’s people and humbly asks the Spirit to speak to that gathering – not in any extra biblical manifestation, but through the ‘Word that lights our way’.

The chorus touches upon what we covered in last Sunday’s sermon on the Spirit as Illuminator. All of the requests of the chorus are also grounded in scripture. In this way the song is a wonderful reflection of the scriptural teaching that the Spirit seeks to grow Christians in their understanding of the Word in order to glorify and magnify the worth and excellence of Christ.

Your Words of Life
CCLI: 52590

Music and words by Joel Sczebel and Pat Sczebel
© 2011 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)

As we gather, come and teach us
Spirit, come and speak today
You delight to lead and guide us
It’s Your Word that lights the way

So come awaken our hearts
Illumine our minds, magnify Jesus Christ
Come, renewing our faith
Changing our lives
With Your words of life

Let Your truth sink deep within us
Let the foolish learn Your ways
We are often prone to wander
As we hear may we be changed

One of the final songs we’ll introduce this series is ‘Come Praise and Glorify’ by Bob Kauflin and Tim Chester. Bob Kauflin oversees much of the production of Sovereign Grace Music albums and is the writer of Glorious Christ, Let Your Kingdom Come, Receive the Glory and God Moves. Tim Chester is a Pastor in the UK and has written over 20 books including the highly recommended ‘You Can Change’ and the ‘Gospel Centred’ bible study series.

Analysis:

The song is thoroughly Trinitarian – with each verse spending time focusing on glorifying the work of Father, Son and Spirit respectively. At Camp we were taught and reminded that salvation is an act of our Trinitarian God: the Father plans, the Son acts, the Spirit applies the plan and act to our lives. And this song teaches this clearly in its three verses.

The final verse applies wonderfully to this Sunday’s sermon: the Holy Spirit as our seal and assurance.

Come praise and glorify our God
The Father of our Lord
In Christ He has in heav’nly realms
His blessings on us poured
For pure and blameless in His sight
He destined us to be
And now we’ve been adopted through
His Son eternally

To the praise of Your glory
To the praise of Your mercy and grace
To the praise of Your glory
You are the God who saves

Come praise and glorify our God
Who gives His grace in Christ
In Him our sins are washed away
Redeemed through sacrifice
In Him God has made known to us
The myst’ry of His will
That Christ should be the head of all
His purpose to fulfill

Come praise and glorify our God
For we’ve believed the Word
And through our faith we have a seal
The Spirit of the Lord
The Spirit guarantees our hope
Until redemption’s done
Until we join in endless praise
To God, the Three in One

We hope that these new songs will encourage all of us to rejoice and be in awe of how wonderful our Trinitarian God is, and how awesome is the work of the Spirit properly understood and applied to our lives.

Finally, if you have access to Spotify you can follow our SLE Church playlist – songs we sing and songs we’d like to encourage you with.

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