I first sang this beautiful song while I was on retreat three years ago, at the Sisters of Jesus' Way in West Kirby. It's one of my favourite Getty/Townend songs - there's more information about their collaboration in my posts on In Christ alone and See, what a morning.
Keith Getty writes that he and Stuart Townend "wanted to connect the radical truths of what we believe with everyday life. In this particular song, we desired the hymn to function as a sung prayer about the Holy Spirit's renewing power." If you follow the link at the beginning of this paragraph, there's a lot more detail about the composition of the three verses, and how Getty and Townend see them applying to the life of the individual believer, and of the church as a whole (you'll need to scroll down past the lyrics and the section headed 'Videos').
Stuart Townend's website says that "this song seeks to point to the central vitality of the Spirit in every area of our lives: applying the word of God to our lives; bearing his multi-faceted fruit in us, and thus shaping us into the likeness of Christ; inspiring passion, repentance, unity, intercession, and sacrifice."
Keith Getty wrote the tune, and he writes here that the melody came to him one Sunday morning while he was meditating on the lyrics of the hymn, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds". He adds that the harmonies were probably influenced by his love of the music of J S Bach.
For me, this song has been a precious addition to the repertoire, with its focus on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of both the individual believer and of the church as a whole.
There is a lyric video here, with Kristyn Getty singing. Or you can hear Stuart Townend's version (no lyrics) here.
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