Sulagak Wage Awidin

Come like a wind and wrap yourself around me,
come like a fire and set me all alight,
come like water and fill me full,
O pure one, be with me always, close beside me

In the morning, beside me like a cloud,
in the watches of the night, like a burning pillar of flame,
in the desert, beside me like a rampart,
O pure one, stay near me always, right beside me

This is a hymn of invocation, a heartfelt call for God, and especially the Holy Spirit, to come and be near. Its first verse asks God to come in three elemental ways, each answering a different need of the soul: “come like a wind and wrap yourself around me,” the breath and movement of the Spirit; “come like a fire and set me all alight,” the flame of Pentecost that warms and purifies; “come like water and fill me full,” the living water that satisfies and cleanses. Wind, fire and water are the classic biblical images of the Spirit, and the singer wants all three.

The second verse turns to God’s guiding, protecting presence, and it draws directly on the story of the Exodus, when God led his people through the wilderness. “In the morning, beside me like a cloud, in the watches of the night, like a burning pillar of flame”, exactly the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night that guided Israel through the desert. And “in the desert, beside me like a rampart,” a wall of protection around the vulnerable traveller.

Both verses end with the same simple, longing refrain, “O pure one, stay near me always, right beside me.” What the listener is left with is a prayer for constant companionship, asking the God who led his people through the wilderness with cloud and fire to come as wind, flame and water into one person’s life, and, above all, never to leave their side.