Lyrics under copyright.
Lyrics: James Edwin Orr
Music: Maori melody
J. Edwin Orr, 1912–1988
J. Edwin Orr was widely known as a evangelist and a noted scholar of historical revival movements. He wrote many textbooks and was a professor of world missions. He also lectured and held workshops throughout the world while visiting 150 countries.
“Cleanse Me,” based on Psalm 139:23-24, was written in 1936 after a stirring Easter convention in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand. Fervent meetings sprang up throughout the city. Inspired by this intense movement of the Holy Spirit, Dr. Orr took time as he left New Zealand to write the verses of “Cleanse Me” on the back of an envelope in the post office. The tune he used was the lovely Maori Song of Farewell, sung to him by four Aborigine girls as he was leaving. In following campaigns in Australia and other parts of the world, Dr. Orr often used this hymn to encourage new spiritual awakenings.