First of all, let me thank both of you. Now I’m going to quote the hymn and the psalm to see the similarities.
The hymn: Come Holy Ghost:
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blessed,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heavenly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.
O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.
Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.
Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.
Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.
[Rabanus Maurus (776-856)]
chantcd.com/lyrics/come_holy_ghost.htm
Psalm 104:
Bless the LORD, my soul! LORD, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak. You spread out the heavens like a tent; you raised your palace upon the waters. You make the clouds your chariot; you travel on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers; flaming fire, your ministers. You fixed the earth on its foundation, never to be moved. The ocean covered it like a garment; above the mountains stood the waters. At your roar they took flight; at the sound of your thunder they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.
You made springs flow into channels that wind among the mountains. They give drink to every beast of the field; here wild asses quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of heaven nest; among the branches they sing.
You water the mountains from your palace; by your labor the earth abounds. You raise grass for the cattle and plants for our beasts of burden. You bring bread from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts, Oil to make our faces gleam, food to build our strength.
The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, which you planted. There the birds build their nests; junipers are the home of the stork. The high mountains are for wild goats; the rocky cliffs, a refuge for badgers.
You made the moon to mark the seasons, the sun that knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness and night falls, then all the beasts of the forest roam abroad. Young lions roar for prey; they seek their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and rest in their dens.
People go forth to their work, to their labor till evening falls.
How varied are your works, LORD! In wisdom you have wrought them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Look at the sea, great and wide! It teems with countless beings, living things both large and small. Here ships ply their course; here Leviathan, your creature, plays.
All of these look to you to give them food in due time. When you give to them, they gather; when you open your hand, they are well filled. When you hide your face, they are lost. When you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust from which they came.
When you send forth your breath, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD be glad in these works! If God glares at the earth, it trembles; if God touches the mountains, they smoke! I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. May my theme be pleasing to God; I will rejoice in the LORD. May sinners vanish from the earth, and the wicked be no more.
Bless the LORD, my soul! Hallelujah!
[Psalm 104, NAB, bolding added]
When you send forth your breath, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
“They” refers to the life on earth. “Thy Spirit” is the breath of God, which is the Holy Spirit. And that ties it back to the hymn. When the Holy Spirit “breathes” upon the earth, life is created which renews the face of the earth.
I think it’s clear now. Thank you both again. I never would have found the reference to the psalm and I didn’t know about the “breath” which is the Holy Spirit; the breath of God.
I know what we’ve discussed is only a tiny part of the psalm and the hymn. There’s so much more to know. It amazes me that this is all in English, probably translated from Latin, and the Latin was probably translated from Greek. Yet the message still remains; it all fits together like a huge jigsaw puzzle but infinitely larger, infinitely more complex, infinitely holy and sacred. This makes me realize that the bible and the oral traditions are all inter-woven into a complexity which can be understood by God but never by us. Yet we can sense its beauty and wonder and I’m humbled by the idea that I, a human being, am somehow part of this. Without me, just me, it wouldn’t be complete. So much love from God, so many gifts, so much grace, to us.
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