Holy Ghost, With Light Divine

Holy Ghost, with light divine,
Shine upon this heart of mine;
Chase the shade of night away,
Turn my darkness into day.

Let me see my Savior’s face,
Let me all His beauties trace;
Show those glorious truths to me
Which are only known to Thee.

Holy Ghost, with power divine,
Cleanse this guilty heart of mine;
Long has sin, without control,
Held dominion o’er my soul.

Holy Ghost, with joy divine,
Cheer this saddened heart of mine;
Bid my many woes depart,
Heal my wounded, bleeding heart.

Holy Spirit, all divine,
Dwell within this heart of mine;
Cast down every idol throne,
Reign supreme, and reign alone.

See, to Thee I yield my heart,
Shed Thy life through every part;
A pure temple I would be,
Wholly dedicate to Thee.

As we approach Pentecost Sunday, I wanted to do a hymn that focused on the 3rd person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  Unfortunately, many of the songs and hymns that have been written in Christendom have focused only on God the Father or only on God the Son.  There are lots of song that lift up praise to God the Father – “A Mighty Fortress is our God” or “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father.”  There are also numerous songs of praise to Jesus for what He did for us, especially what He did for us on the Cross.  But there aren’t many songs written specifically about, or to the Holy Spirit.  I came across this song in the hymnbook “Book of Worship for United States Forces.”  I like the fact that this song focuses on the Holy Spirit and on the work of the Spirit and so I thought I would share it with you.

This hymn reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the great illuminator – “Light divine.”  When we read God’s Word, it is the Spirit that opens our eyes and enlightens our heart.  It is amazing that we can read passages over and over again in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit can bring fresh insight to what we are reading, even passages we have read 100 times.  This hymn also reminds us that the Holy Spirit is also the great Empowerer – “Power divine.”  In Luke 24, Jesus promised  His disciples that they would be endued with power from on high.  On the day of Pentecost, Acts 2 records that these common fisherman were “filled with the Holy Ghost.”  They were given power to speak in other tongues, to preach, to teach, and to heal by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I pray today that the Holy Spirit is not an after-thought in your life.  I pray that He has not become the “forgotten” part of the Trinity.  But that we recognize His power and influence in our lives, and that we worship the Holy Spirit and give Him the honor and praise He is due.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Long has sin, without control” – I get the picture of a Nascar racecar going around a track at 200 mph, and the driver losing control.  The car might bang against the wall and burst into flames.  The car might veer into other innocent cars and cause a 10 car pile up.  Or a car can get airborne and turn over and over and over again until the car crashes and is turned into a pile of twisted metal.  Sin can do the same thing to our lives.  When sin is in control in our lives, we are an accident waiting to happen.  Sin damages our lives and the lives of others around us.  Sin can leave our lives in a twisted mess.  But thanks be to God, that the Holy Spirit called us and drew us to Jesus.  We know that the Holy Spirit dwells inside every believer.  Convicting us.  Teaching us.  Changing us.  Controlling us.  We don’t have to live a life where sin has dominion.  We can live a life in submission to the Holy Spirit – a life  totally controlled by Him.

• “Cast down every idol throne” – One of the recurring challenges the Israelites had in the Old Testament was tearing down and getting rid of the idols of the pagan nations that surrounded them.  God would instruct them to totally rid themselves of anything that had to do with pagan idols.  The people would do this “half-heartedly” or would allow the idols to “hang around.” Eventually, they would forsake God and in rebellion return to these idols.  In our day, we may not have golden calfs or Asherah poles.  We might not worship the “Baal’s” like the Israelites did.  But we do have idols.  Money, fame, pleasure, career, and power can become idols.  God is calling us to cast down the idols.  To remove them completely from our lives.  To utterly destroy these “idols” so that we will not return to them in the day of trouble.

I loved to play basketball as a kid.  I was never that good, but tried my best.  If you have ever played basketball or watched basketball, you have probably noticed that there are some times when players seem to go 90 mph up and down the court.  They blow past everyone, dribble like a madman, get down to the basket, and blow the layup because they were, what we called in high school, “O-O-C” – Out Of Control.

So let me ask you today, are you living this life “O-O-C” – living outside the Spirit’s control?  If you are, can I encourage to pray to the Holy Spirit for direction?  Can I encourage you to let the Spirit take control?  He wants to lead us.  He wants to guide us.  He wants to have control over our daily actions.  He wants to be our light, our guide, and He wants to give us the power to live this Christian life victoriously.