Holy Ghost, Dispel Our Sadness

Representative Text

1 Holy Spirit, end our sadness,
pierce the clouds of sinful night;
come, O Source of sweetest gladness,
breathe your life and spread your light!
Hear, O hear our supplication,
loving Spirit, God of peace!
Rest upon this congregation,
great distributor of grace!

2 From the height which knows no measure
as a gracious show'r descend,
bringing down the richest treasure
we can wish, or God can send!
Help us flee whate'er would harm us,
both from error and from sin.
Guard us, lest the world alarm us;
holy fountain, cleanse within.

3 Be our friend on each occasion,
God, omnipotent to save;
when we die, be our salvation,
when we're buried, be our grave.
Seat us with your saints in glory,
when from out the grave we rise;
then forever we'll adore you,
round your throne above the skies.

Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #594

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Author: Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which condemned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >

Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi

Jacobi, John Christian, a native of Germany, was born in 1670, and appointed Keeper of the Royal German Chapel, St. James's Palace, London, about 1708. He held that post for 42 years, and died Dec. 14, 1750. He was buried in the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. His publications included :— (1) A Collection of Divine Hymns, Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes and Thorough Bass. London: Printed and Sold by J. Young, in St. Paul’s Churchyard; . . . 1720. This edition contains 15 hymns. Two years later this collection, with a few changes in the text and much enlarged, was republished as (2) Psalmodia Germanica; or a Specimen of Divine Hymns. Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes… Go to person page >

Alterer: Augustus Toplady

Toplady, Augustus Montague, the author of "Rock of Ages," was born at Farnham, Surrey, November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in the British army. His mother was a woman of remarkable piety. He prepared for the university at Westminster School, and subsequently was graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. While on a visit in Ireland in his sixteenth year he was awakened and converted at a service held in a barn in Codymain. The text was Ephesians ii. 13: "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The preacher was an illiterate but warm-hearted layman named Morris. Concerning this experience Toplady wrote: "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should b… Go to person page >

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Related Texts

First Line:	Holy Ghost, dispel our sadness
Title:	Holy Ghost, Dispel Our Sadness
German Title:	O du allersüßte Freude
Author:	Paul Gerhardt
Translator:	Johann Christian Jacobi (1725)
Alterer:	Augustus Toplady (1776)
Meter:	8.7.8.7.7.7.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

This text has been mis-attributed to other authors, but is clearly the work of the above-named author.

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Tune

GENEVAN 42

Louis Bourgeois (PHH 3) composed or adapted this tune for Psalm 42 for the Genevan psalter. The 1564 harmonization by Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) originally placed the melody in the tenor. An alternate harmonization with descants by Johann Crüger (PHH 42) can be found opposite 41 in the Psalter Hymnal.…

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GENEVA (Day)

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Timeline

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Arrangements

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