“This is My Father’s World” was written by Maltbie Davenport Babcock and was published after his death in 1901. It was originally written as a poem containing sixteen verses of four lines each. Franklin L. Sheppard set the poem to music in 1915 and selected three verses for the final hymn.
Babcock, who was a minister from Lockport, New York, would often take walks overlooking a cliff, where he would enjoy the view of beautiful Lake Ontario and the upstate New York scenery. As he prepared to leave for his walks he would often tell his wife that he was “going out to see my Father’s world.”
This Is My Father’s World (Lyrics)
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:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!