True Spirituality

Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart

By: George Croly

Spirit of God, descend up on my heart;

Wean it from earth; thro’ all its pulses move;

Stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,

And make me love thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,

No sudden rending of the veil of clay,

No angel visitant, no op’ning skies;

But take the dimness of my soul away.

Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh;

Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,

To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;

Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,

One holy passion filling all my frame;

The kindling of the heav’n descended Dove,

My heart an altar, and thy love the flame.

Amen.

As I read this hymn I was reminded of what true spirituality is and what it seeks. It is not the emotional ecstasy sought by the mystic and charismatic, the instability of sought-out feelings as anchors of the soul. No, it is the stability of the sure confidence of God in Christ. It seeks not an experience, though it is experiential. It seeks not a feeling, though it is felt. It seeks nothing but the reality of God in the truth of His Word which foundations the confidence of our faith. 

The request of the hymnodist is the Spirit's descent upon him with the result of his being weaned from this world, its ways and stuff in conjunction with a deepening love for God and the realization of His presence. One can not but be reminded of the Scriptures

1John 2:15  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."                             
James 4:4  "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."  
Proverbs 30:7  "Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:  8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:  9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."            
Psalms 27:4  "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of he LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple."

Psalm 42:1  "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."
Psalm 119:131  "I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments." 

These verses encapsulate an abhorance of this world coupled with an intense longing for our Heavenly Father in His person and commandments, to know them and keep them. This is true spirituality. There is no other.