September - This Is My Father’s World
Lyrics
VERSE 1
This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—
His hand the wonders wrought.
VERSE 2
This is my Father's world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
VERSE 3
This is my Father's world:
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
The battle is not done
Jesus who died shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be one
This is my Father's world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!
Story Behind the Hymn
‘This is my Father’s World’ was written by Maltbie Davenport Babcock. Now that’s a name! He was a minister from New York. This beautiful hymn about creation was first published in 1901 after he died. He died at only 42 after becoming very sick in his body and mind from a disease then known as the Mediterranean Fever. He had been visiting the Holy Land.
His wife Katherine found the lyrics in one of his journals. It would have made her smile to read it as she remembered how her husband liked to go out for walks. A favorite place to walk was along the Niagara Escarpment. Niagara is, of course, a huge waterfall and the photo here is of Gracie beside a small waterfall in Singapore, but it was still wonderful to see! As Babcock left for his walks, he used to tell her, ‘I’m going out to see the Father’s world.’ His wife gathered his poems together in a collection called ‘Thoughts for everyday living.’
This is perhaps his most well-known poem. His close friend Franklin L Sheppard wrote the melody for it and so enabled people to sing the words. There were originally 16 verses but we only sing a few of them! Sheppard called the melody ‘Terra Beata’ which means ‘Blessed earth’ in Latin. (Latin is an old language we don’t speak today but it helped shape so many other European languages that we continue to speak). The melody was inspired by an old English folk tune he remembered hearing his mother sing to him as a young boy. It sounds a bit like a lullaby doesn’t it?!