7 Inspirational songs for Pentecost

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, June 09, 2019

O Thou Who Camest From Above

Another hymn from Charles Wesley, “O Thou Who Camest From Above” was originally published in Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures in 1762.

According to the Rev. Dr. Norma Lee Kerns Barnhart, the basis for the hymn was Leviticus 6:13, “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar, it shall never go out.”

“This passage is the Lord speaking to Moses to command Aaron and his sons about the ritual of the burnt offering,” wrote Barnhart.

“From verse 8 though verse 13, it is repeated three times that the fire on the altar for the burning of offerings shall be kept burning. Verse 13 is ‘A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out’ (NRSV).”