I love this song.

I first heard it sometimes in the mid 1980s when two young girls who were friends of my daughter sang it for me. They sang "Encourage my soul". I interpreted that to mean in "plain English" "Give me courage".

Here is a link to a 1988 video of an African American choir singing that gospel song very much like I remember first hearing it. Note that the title of the video is "Encourage My Soul"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuOMg9vItSk
1988 Friendship Baptist Church, College Park, GA

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Note that the title of that video is "Encourage My Soul". That title is also given for other video examples of that song.