The Spirit brooded on the Moat of formless waters deep,
Divided by the Father’s Word the Firmament to keep.
Plunged in these depths sin’s stranglehold on Adam’s Children dies;
With Pharaoh’s Host and Noah’s World beneath the water lies.
Throughout the Jordan Wilderness echoed the Herald’s cry:
“Prepare the way, your paths make straight; the Lamb of God draws nigh.”
The One by Whom all things were made takes on our human dress,
And in the river, one with us, fulfills all righteousness.
The sign of Jonah now fulfilled in everlasting Day,
The Lord of Life bursts forth from death and rolls my stone away.
With rushing wind the Spirit came the New Life to Inspire;
That all who cross this Sacred Flood are washed with Holy Fire.
O Spirit, bind us into Him Whom God raised from the dead;
And through this Water, make us One, with Jesus as our Head.
Written 2008, The first in a series of hymns on Luther's "Seven Marks of the Church"
Original Music and setting available for free by contacting me
