Scripture Verse

The earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:12

Introduction

portrait
George E. Oliver (1856–1941)

Words: B. P. Neu­man, in The Church Hym­na­ry, ed­it­ed by Ed­win A. Be­dell (New York: Charles E. Mer­rill, 1893), num­ber 932.

Music: Sun­shine George E. Ol­iv­er, 1893 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Neu­man’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The beau­ti­ful bright sun­shine,
That smiles on all be­low,
The wav­ing trees, the cool, soft breeze,
The rip­pling streams that flow,
The sha­dows on the hill­sides,
The many tint­ed flow­ers,
O God! how fair Thy lov­ing care
Has made this earth of ours!

The beau­ti­ful af­fect­ions
That ga­ther round our way,
The joys that rise from hous­ehold ties,
And deep­en day by day;
The ten­der love that guards us
Whenever dan­ger low­ers,
O God! how fair Thy lov­ing care
Has made this earth of ours!

But bright­er is the shin­ing,
And ten­der is the love,
And pur­er still the joys which fill
The un­seen home above—
The home where all His child­ren
Shall sing with full­er pow­er,
O God! how fair Thy lov­ing care
Has made this earth of ours!

illustration
Rocky Mountain Peak, Idaho Territory
Thomas Moran (1837–1926)