This is my Father's world

72 Terra Beata. S. M. D.

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.

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.

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:
   Why should my heart be sad?
   The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
   God reigns; let earth be glad!
                        Maltie D. Babcock
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
For a long time I disliked this hymn. I felt it was too trite and didn't take enough account into the fallenness of the world. But as I've grown older, I've come to value the way it looks at things through God's eyes and the reconstructive effects of the resurrection and ascension of Christ.
</idle musing>