Be Filled with the Spirit is the second of Three Sacred Canticles (I Am With You and Sing to the Lord a New Song are the other two titles), a cycle of anthems based on Biblical passages which refer to singing. Based on Ephesians 5:18-20, in which we are exhorted to "speak to one another with spiritual songs", the choral writing in this anthem approaches all four vocal parts melodically and individually, creating a "conversational" effect that supports the words. Melismas on the word "melody" add to the text painting and the plaintive use of clarinet or viola (BP1548A) in dialogue with the voices heightens the lyric sense of the entire anthem.