O Breath of Life
“O Breath of Life”
O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
Revive Thy church with life and power;
O Breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us,
And fit Thy church to meet this hour.
O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
Till humbly we confess our need;
Then in Thy tenderness remake us,
Revive, restore, for this we plead.
O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
Renewing thought and will and heart;
Come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
Revive Thy church in every part.
O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
’Tis there we find our strength and rest;
Our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
And let Thy waiting church be blest.
Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
While harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive, us Lord, the world is waiting,
Equip Thy church to spread the light.
Written by Bessie Porter Head
The “O” in this particular hymn is part of a personal prayer of the author to God to send a personal renewal and revival to her heart, as well as to the heart of the Church. She is praying that the Holy Spirit would move among the people of God, change our hearts and our focus, so that we might be equipped to work in the harvest field. This song reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 9 where the Bible states “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
The question for us is are we moved with compassion when we see the multitudes of people who are lost? Or do we have an attitude of judgement for people that don’t know the Lord and are living in sin? The writer of this hymn is really praying that our hearts would be renewed, revived and restored that we might have a renewed compassion for the lost. In one of Jesus’ parables, He asks the following question “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” The Lord’s heart is for the lost and His desire is that we be instruments of His grace to a hurting and dying world.
In the second verse of this hymn, the phrase that caught my attention was “O Wind of God, come bend us, break us…” Isn’t that a good picture of how our hearts can be sometimes? We can be so stubborn, or “stiff-necked” as is the phrase God used about the children of Israel in Moses’ time. Sometimes, maybe the “wind of God” can blow into our lives and a “bending” of our wills is all that might be required – a minor adjustment to our thinking. There are other times, however, when the will has to be broken. We refuse to follow His will or His leading, and therefore our hearts have to be humbled. If you have ever dealt with a defiant child, the breaking of their will can be a difficult and trying process, but it has to be done. It is what is best for the child. Hopefully, we all can humble ourselves and not have to go through a difficult “breaking” process.
Finally, in verse 4, the author asks a question – “Is zeal abating while harvest fields are vast and white?” If you turn on the news or watch most TV’s shows, you will realize quickly that that there is a lot of sin in this world. This increasing sinfulness or disdain for the things of God, however, should not cause us to despair, but rather increase our awareness that people need Jesus. We should be all the more zealous about loving people, telling them of what God has done for us, and share with them the good news of Christ and His salvation.