Lutheran Worship ‎#162

162. Come Down, O Love Divine

1 Come down, O Love divine;
Seek out this soul of mine,
And visit it with your own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near;
Within my heart appear,
And kindle it, your holy flame bestowing.

2 Oh, let it freely burn
Till worldly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let your glorious light
Shine ever on my sight
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

3 Let holy charity
My outward vesture be
And lowliness become my inner clothing--
True lowliness of heart,
Which takes the humbler part
And over its shortcomings weeps with loathing.

4 And so the yearning strong,
With which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the pow'r of human telling;
No soul can guess his grace
Till it become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Text Information

• First Line: Come down, O Love divine
• Title: Come Down, O Love Divine
• Author: Bianco da Siena, d. 1434
• Translator: Richard F. Littledale (alt.)
• Meter: 66 11 66 11
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1982
• Topic: Commitment; Consecration; Deaconesses and Deacons; Humility; Inner Life; Invocation; Life, Christian; Pentecost

Tune Information

• Name: DOWN AMPNEY
• Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958
• Meter: 66 11 66 11
• Key: D Major