Holy Spirit, Gracious Guest

Holy Spirit, Gracious Guest

Text based on 1 Corinthians 13, written by Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885)

Sung to GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL, composed by Grayston Ives (1948-?)

1 Corinthians 12:31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

V. 1 Holy Spirit, gracious guest,

Hear and grant our heart's request

For that gift supreme and best:

Holy heav'nly love.

1 Corinthians 13:1, 2 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

V. 2 Faith that mountains could remove,

Tongues of earth or heaven above,

Knowledge, all things, empty prove

If I have no love.

1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

V. 3 Though I as a martyr bleed,

Give my goods the poor to feed,

All is vain if love I need:

Therefore give me love.

Song of Solomon 8:6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

V. 4 Love is kind and suffers long,

Love is pure and thinks no wrong,

Love than death itself more strong:

Therefore give us love.

1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 

V. 5 Prophecy will fade away,

Melting in the light of day;

Love will ever with us stay:

Therefore give us love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

V. 5 Faith and hope and love we see

Joining hand in hand agree--

But the greatest of the three,

And the best is love.

All That Thrills My Soul

All That Thrills My Soul

Text written in 1931 by Thoro Harris (1873-1955)

Tune composed by Thoro Harris

V. 1 Who can cheer the heart like Jesus,

By His presence all divine?

True and tender, pure and precious,

Oh, how blest to call Him mine!

Song of Solomon 5:10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,

outstanding among ten thousand.

Refrain: All that thrills my soul is Jesus;

He is more than life to me;

And the fairest of ten thousand,

In my blessed Lord I see.

Psalm 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him.

V. 2 Love of Christ so freely given,

Grace of God beyond degree,

Mercy higher than the heaven,

Deeper than the deepest sea.

Refrain

Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 

V. 3 Every need His hand supplying,

Every good in Him I see;

On His strength divine relying,

He is All in All to me.

Refrain

Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

V. 4 By the crystal flowing river

With the ransomed I will sing,

And forever and forever

Praise and glorify the King.

Refrain

How Sweet the Name!

How Sweet the Name!

Text written in 1779 by John Newton (1725-1807)

Sung to ST. PETER, composed in 1836 by Alexander R. Reinagle (1799-1877)

Song of Solomon 1:3  Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!

V. 1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

Proverbs 18:14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,

but a crushed spirit who can bear?

V. 2 It makes the wounded spirit whole,

And calms the troubled breast;

'Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary, rest.

Psalm 3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

V. 3 Dear name, the rock on which I build,

My shield and hiding place, 

My never-failing treasury, filled

With boundless stores of grace.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Matthew 21:5 Say to Daughter Zion, "See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

John 6:14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 

John 20:28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 

V. 4 Jesus! my Shepherd, Guardian, Friend,

My Prophet, Priest, and King!

My Lord, my life, my way, my end!

Accept the praise I bring.

V. 5 Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see Thee as Thou art,

I'll praise Thee as I ought.

I'd Rather Have Jesus

I'd Rather Have Jesus

Text written in 1922 by Rhea F. Miller (1894-1966)

Tune composed in 1939 by George Beverly Shea (1909-1976)

Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

V. 1 I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,

I'd rather be His than have riches untold;

I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands,

I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.

Refrain: Thank to be the king of a vast domain

Or be held in sin's dread sway;

I'd rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.

V. 2 I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause,

I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;

I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,

I'd rather be true to His holy name.

Refrain

Psalm 19:10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

Song of Solomon 2:2 Like a lily among thorns

is my darling among the young women.

V. 3 He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom,

He's sweeter than honey from out the comb;

He's all that my hungering spirit needs,

I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead.

Refrain