🎶This Is My Father’s World🎶
Author: Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)
Hymn written in 1901
Hymn History
Maltbie Babcock was born in Syracuse, NY on August 3, 1858 and held a Syracuse University degree. He attended Auburn Theological Seminary in New York to further his studies. He pastored at Brick Church after serving two congregations in Lockport, near Lake Ontario, and Baltimore. After visiting the Holy Land, he passed away in a Naples, Italy hospital, just a few months shy of turning 42.
While Babcock was a pastor in Lockport, NY., with its “panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario,” the Niagara Escarpment was a favorite place for him to go for walks. “Going out to see the Father’s world” was what he would tell his wife Katherine as he left for his walk.
Katherine released “Thoughts for Every-Day Living”, an anthology of his writings, following his death in 1901. Included in this compilation was the poem “My Father’s World,” which was divided into sixteen stanzas, each with four lines.
A close friend of Babcock’s, Franklin L. Sheppard, set the poem to music in 1915. The Latin title Terra Beata, which translates to “Blessed earth,” is the adaptation of a classic English melody he learned as a young child.
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This Is My Father’s World
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.
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.
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 heav’n be one.
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You can listen to the hymn here:
https://youtu.be/LKAg-kEvfFA?si=Qx0AcV3mmFyvqDCJ
References:
* https://dianaleaghmatthews.com/hymn-story-this-is-my-fathers-world/
*https://hymnary.org/person/Babcock_Maltbie?tab=hymnals
*https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-this-is-my-fathers-world
*https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-this-is-my-fathers-world
*https://likeasilentriverrunning.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-life-of-maltbie-babcock.html?m=1
