Third Sunday Meditation: Our Blessed Redeemer Ere He Breathed

"And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Comforter,

(Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby,)

that He may remain with you forever.

The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take

to its heart) because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him,

for He lives in you (constantly) and will be in you."

John 14:16-17

"Messiah"

Danny Hahlbohm

Our blest Redeemer, ere, Has breathed

 His tender last farewell,

A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed

 With us to dwell.

He came in semblance of a dove, 

With sheltering wings outspread,

The holy balm of peace and love

On earth to shed.

He came in tongues of living flame

To teach, convince, subdue,

All powerful as the wind He came

As viewless too.

He came sweet influence to impart,

A gracious, willing guest,

While He can find one humble heart

Wherein to rest.

And His that gentle voice we hear,

Soft as the breath of even,

That checks each fault, that calms each fear,

And speaks of Heaven.

And every virtue we possess,

And every conquest won,

And every thought of holiness

Are His alone.

Spirit of purity and grace

Our weakness, pitying, see:

O make our hearts Thy dwelling place

And worthier Thee.

About This Hymn

"Our Blessed Redeemer Ere He Has Breathed" is  the work of an English woman

named Harriet Auber.  Born in Spitalfields, Stepney, Middlesex, England on

October 4, 1773  she was the daughter of Angelican Rector James Auber.

One day while Harriet was looking out her bedroom window, her mind

meditating on a sermon she had heard earlier that morning, 

she was suddenly inspired to write the words of a

 new hymn-poem which came into her mind.

   Not having pen or paper nearby, she took off the diamond ring

 she was wearing and carefully etched the verses in her mind

on a pane of glass in the window.

The words of this hymn remained on the pane of glass until

after Harriet's death on January 20, 1862 when the pane was 

mysteriously cut out and stolen.  While the pane might be long 

gone, the divinely-inspired words penned by Harriet Auber on

  that morning long ago have remained intact- to appreciate,

   and to inspire other believers in their own walk of faith.

"I will sing of the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord forever:

with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness 

from generation to generation."

Psalm 89:1



"Our Blessed Redeemer Ere He Breathed"
(1829)
Words by Harriet Auber
Music composed  in 1861 by
John Bacchus Dykes
(March 10, 1823-January 22,1876)
English clergyman and hymn writer