Songs for Ascension and Pentecost

“He Is Lord”; “Jesus Is Lord”

God’s sovereignty remains one of the dominant themes of Reformed theology —and a key message for Ascension Day. Add to that the strange truth that God has chosen us not only for salvation but also to be his instruments of grace in this world, and we find ourselves fumbling for a balance between confidence and humility.

Honest self-reflection leads us to admit that we tend to choose extreme responses, either withering in the face of God’s majesty while neglecting the honor and duty of being called into kingdom service or boldly positioning ourselves too closely to the Almighty, neglecting the posture of humility.

This pair of songs for Ascension Day will help your congregation profess the authority and lordship of God and confess their sin in a grace-infused context. I suggest that you use “He Is Lord” (LUYH 227) as the confession, then immediately move into “Jesus Is Lord” (LUYH 226) as the assurance of pardon.

“He Is Lord” is a staple in hymnals and songbooks and has been sung by Christians of many ages all around the world. Like the doxology, “He Is Lord” is one of those songs that bursts out spontaneously during a prayer meeting or at the end of a gathering or when the group leader turns to you, the token song leader in the room, and says, “Lead us in a song!”

This easy chorus, which contains simple statements of God’s many-splendored character, is followed by “Jesus Is Lord”—a young, less-familiar song that is rich with theology and draws on familiar phrases of Scripture. The song is easy to learn since the melody moves intelligently, and it offers a heartier musical experience to balance the simplicity of the first song.

“Jesus Is Lord” has been around since 1998 when Daniel Chua, now head of the School of Humanities and award-winning professor of music at the University of Hong Kong, was studying in England. He tells the story:

I had the tune first and the words “Jesus is Lord.” That’s it. So I just kept it on the back burner for several months. Then one Sunday evening, on a train journey from London to Cambridge after a sermon series based on Ephesians, all the words suddenly came. So, in a sense, the words were written in an hour. The song was published in a Spring Harvest worship songbook in 2003, and I think that it is for this reason that it has circulated around.

To use this song as the assurance of pardon, pay special attention to stanza two. The words focus on the work of Christ, assuring us of forgiveness and grace. Set this stanza apart either by a soloist or by changing the instrumentation and/or dynamics.

The prayers accompanying “He Is Lord” are written in a pattern that allows one or more instrumentalists to play along quietly, remembering to use less volume, less movement, and less melody (or no melody at all). Play simple chord patterns centered on somber tones and minor chords to emphasize the confessional posture. I’ve included a few ideas, but hope that you will try your own. Notice that each prayer has a key phrase (“Remind us . . .”; “Renew in us . . .”; “Rekindle in us . . .”; “Revive us . . .”) that will cue the musicians to return to the last two measures (“that Jesus Christ is Lord”) as introduction to the coming stanza. You may choose to have the people say these sentences together.

See page 17 for a description of how this would work in a worship service. For other ideas, also see RW 94:30.

“Sopla, sopla fuerte”/“Blow Wild and Blow Freely”; “Spirit of the Living God”

I often think of the Spirit as the “busy” person of the Trinity. I know that the Father and the Son are equally engaged in the tasks of creation, redemption, and sanctification, but it seems that the Spirit has lots of jobs to attend to. The Spirit is assigned to comfort in time of grief, convict of sin, communicate wisdom, empower for mission, and much more. That’s a full-time job even if I were the Spirit’s only client! But it’s not just about me. The Spirit is busy with individuals worldwide and is working in and through the church of Jesus to build and strengthen the kingdom of God.

Many of our Pentecost songs are quiet, somber, mellow tunes. We sing of the “Sweet Holy Spirit” and “Spirit of Gentleness,” invoking images of a delicate dove hovering over our lives with tenderness and care. While that may be true, it is an incomplete picture of the Spirit’s character and work in our lives and in the world.

“Sopla, sopla fuerte” (LUYH 244) invites the Spirit to move with authority in the church, stirring God’s people into missional action. The repetition of “sopla” indicates an intensity in the action. The lyrics gives voice to the church’s cry for energy, enthusiasm, and courage: “Breathe with strength and power, kindle, spur, make us bold.”

Inés Simeone, a Methodist minister in Uraguay, wrote the words of this song as a prayer to close a conference on the Holy Spirit. Her friend, Horacio Vivares, professor of music at the National Conservatory of Music in Argentina, set it to music. Rev. Simeone describes how it came together: “The first time I heard the music it was played like a bolero . . . sweet, not too slowly, not too fast.”

Play this song and the matching arrangement of “Spirit of the Living God” (LUYH 749) with confidence, expressing the intensity of activity of the Spirit. Include simple rhythm instruments, emphasizing the off beat to create a sense of movement.

“Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God”; “Breathe on Me, Breath of God”

Composers, like parents, aren’t supposed to tell anyone if they have favorites, but Keith Getty confesses that he has a special love for this melody. This song (LUYH 746) completed a five-year project of using main phrases from the Apostles’ Creed as inspiration for new hymns written by Getty and his writing partner, Stuart Townend. Getty explains, “The lyric of ‘Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God’ is as much an explanation of what Scripture states the Holy Spirit does as it is a prayer for our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit in our lives.”

I’ll confess that this is one of my own favorites, both because of the simple flowing melody that draws attention to the prayerful words and because the text is both deeply personal and boldly missional. The same Spirit who breathes life into me also invigorates and challenges me to “show Christ in all I do,” reminding me that I do this in the context of the church of Christ, which is sent into the world “that in unity the face of Christ may be clear for all the world to see.”

To read Getty’s own words about this song and hear the beautiful introduction of “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone, check out Getty’s blog at tinyurl.com/GettySpirit.

This contemporary song can easily be woven with “Spirit of the Living God” (IVERSON) (LUYH 749), keeping the same key and pace. It also fits with the classic “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” (TRENTHAM) (LUYH 747), which can either be played in the traditional 3/4 by simply moving into that meter and back again to 4/4 if you weave the two songs. Or, if keeping the 4/4 meter throughout the two songs is a priority, I’ve included that option for you here. In either case, use the two measures at the end of the Getty tune (p. 21) to link between the songs. Consider repeating these two bars to give just a bit more time for the congregation to focus.

“You Are Before Me Lord”; “Spirit of God, Who Dwells Within My Heart

This final pair of Pentecost songs links two familiar tunes, but the first is not well known as a church hymn. According to hymnary.org, HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL can be found in just three hymnals, including the newly released Lift Up Your Hearts, where it is linked to the text of Psalm 139 in “You Are Before Me, Lord” (LUYH 336). The tune invokes images of bagpipes and kilts and is played so often at Scottish cultural events that some have proposed it to become the new national anthem of Scotland. However, the tune was composed by two Germans, Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb, in 1982 to be performed at the Highland Games in Germany. The stately melody with a gentle marching step has made it popular for ceremonies such as weddings and military events.

As beautiful and powerful as the tune is, it is the text of Psalm 139 and the words of the hymn “Spirit of God, Who Dwells Within My Heart” (LUYH 618) that drew my attention. The psalmist basks in wonder that the Spirit of the Lord Almighty is present no matter what the place or circumstance of life. What peace and confidence it gives us to know that the Spirit who dwells within us will never leave us!

Play and lead these songs with an intentional balance of power and tenderness. Plan your pace. If you begin too slowly with HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL you’ll find that MORECAMBE really drags.

These songs will work well with a broad choice of instruments and with a variety of dynamics as long as the musicians remain aware of the emotive qualities they are evoking. Notice the difference between these two examples:

Phil Coulter: tinyurl.com/coultervideo
Bagpipes and full band: tinyurl.com/bagpipesband

The arrangements included here can be used to weave both tunes together, selecting stanzas and tunes to suit your needs. Here is one suggestion for use: sing the first two stanzas of “You Are Before Me, Lord,” using HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL; then sing stanza 1 of “Spirit of God, Who Dwells Within my Heart” in the version of morecambe provided here; then sing the text of “Spirit of God, Who Dwells Within My Heart,” stanzas 4 and 5 to the tune of HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL.