Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
Come, Holy Spirit, Heav’nly Dove,
With all Thy quick’ning pow’rs;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.
Look, how we grovel here below,
Fond of these earthly toys;
Our souls, how heavily they go,
To reach eternal joys.
In vain we tune our formal songs,
In vain we strive to rise;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,
And our devotion dies.
Father, and shall we ever live
At this poor dying rate,
Our love so faint, so cold to Thee,
And Thine to us so great?
Come, Holy Spirit, Heav’nly Dove,
With all Thy quick’ning pow’rs;
Come, shed abroad a Savior’s love,
And that shall kindle ours.
ISAAC WATTS was disturbed with “business-as-usual” Christianity. He knew that the only way Christians could be shaken out of their lethargy was if they had a fresh touch of the Spirit. Just as Jesus is described both as a meek lamb and as a fearsome lion, so the Holy Spirit is described as both a dove and fire. Sometimes Christians need to experience the Holy Spirit as a gentle dove, but often we need to know Him as a roaring fire.
One stanza that is often omitted from this hymn is: “Father, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate, our love so faint, so cold to Thee, and Thine to us so great?” It was this contrast between our love for God and God’s love for us that disturbed Watts. He knew that only the fire of the Spirit could kindle our hearts into deeper love.
Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Acts 2:2-4
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