Saturday, November 1, 2008

Then Sings My Soul Saturday - We've Got the Spirit!

As I prepare this post on Halloween night, I know many do not see this as a night of family fun filled with candy and children's innocent costumes. A lost world is deceived by Satan's schemes and many are lured by "the powers of this dark world and . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms".

Yet we who are believers can rejoice "because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

And not only that, but "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Now that's something to celebrate!

Two really short songs are two of my very favorites about the Holy Spirit. The first one has been around for many, many years. When I was growing up, it was mostly used as a choral response at the end of a prayer. I love the heartfelt words of commitment and how the song delineates each step in the process of our being completely filled with the Spirit.


SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD

Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me,
Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me
Break me, melt me,
Mold me, fill me,
Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me.

WORDS & MUSIC: Daniel Iverson, 1935

The second one, much loved as a camp song and "Sunday night song", was written in 1962 by Doris Akers as a result of a leading her choir in their preservice prayer meeting.
"The Holy Spirit came down on me and my choir in a sweet gentle sense of powerful presence. I could see Him displayed on the choir members' warm expressions! I didn't know how the prayer meeting could conclude and wondered whether I should send word to the waiting pastor and congregation in the church sanctuary."

SOURCE:
The Complete Book of Hymns: Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs, by William J. Petersen & Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale, 2006

Of course, the harmony of the Gaither Vocal Band & Signature Sound quartets knock this one right out of the building!



SWEET SWEET SPIRIT

There's a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place,
And I know that it's the Spirit of the Lord.
There are sweet expressions on each face,
And I know that it's the presence of the Lord.

Sweet Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly Dove,
Stay right here with us, filling us with Your love;
And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise:
Without a doubt we'll know that we have been revived,
When we shall leave this place.

WORDS & MUSIC: Doris Mae Akers, 1962

Find more songs to bless your weekend at Amy's!

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17 comments:

Peggy said...

Blessings Linda! GREAT choices! I need some good Holy Spirit filling up songs... the first one came to my mind immediately because it's a favorite for sure! I love your words about Spirit of the Living God! Oh yeah that sweet, sweet spirit! How this blesses me...two very precious songs sung beautifully! Enjoy your weekend & thank you for inspiring my prayer time & quiet time with His Spirit!

Tim said...

They bring back a lot of memories. Specials, church, and watching Him move. Still true today. PTL!

God bless.

Xandra@Heart-of-Service said...

That arrangement by Gaither and Signature just BLEW me away! What a nice way to wake up on Saturday morning!!!

Xandra

Sita said...

Linda,
What a 'sweet' start to my morning--beautiful choices--reaches deep down into my history--we so need the Spirit's 'sweetness' in our lives...and the freshness of a daily infilling..
thanks for sharing this..
Love, Sita

Debra Kaye said...

Linda,

Wow! Both of these songs blessed me so! It's been a long time since I've heard them and they ministered to me instantly! Thank you so much for posting them!

Blessings to you today sweet sister!

sailorcross said...

Hi Linda!!

Beautiful choices!! I don't think I've heard these songs in years, and it was a joy to listen and hear them once again.

Thank you!!

And thanks for stopping by to see me!!

Beth

Anonymous said...

Great choices.

lovely "start" to the weekend!

Be Brave, Keep Going said...

Spirit of the Living God is one of my favorites! Thanks for this blessing today!

Bonnie said...

Thanks for sharing these, Linda! I remember the first from when I was a child, the second was absolutely beautiful! I loved listening to them. And...for the comment on my post, yup - we sit around talking about how we're pretty sure we're related to the Israelites 'cause we are SO dense most of the time. :)

Sue J. said...

Love digging into the background of these hymns, too. Adds even more to what the songs already say.

Thanks for sharing and for stopping by my blog today!

Deborah said...

I've song Sweet, Sweet Spirit so many times and never knew the story behind it. Both of these are awesome songs.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

I know the first but not the second. My friend Melodee and I used to get the giggles when we'd sing "Breathe On Me." In our immaturity, we thought that was hilarious. Sigh. Dumb kid!

Amy Wyatt said...

These are two of my absolute favorites!! So glad you posted them.

Alicia The Snowflake said...

I love those 2 choruses. They are beautiful. And it is always interesting to learn the stories behind our songs. Thanks for sharing!

Cathy said...

I loved those two songs, Linda. Thanks for sharing them. I may just link to your post. :o)

Anonymous said...

I love me some good harmony. GREAT selections. Thanks!

Lisa Cobler said...

What a blessing both songs are!