Know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. 1 Chronicles 28:9

Introduction

Words: Car­rie E. Breck, 1898. Ap­peared in the Gos­pel Her­ald in Song, by Will­iam S. Nic­kle, George F. Me­yer & Ow­en F. Pugh (Chicago, Il­li­nois: Mey­er & Bro­ther, 1899), num­ber 127.

Music: Al­ta­mi­ra E. F. Dar­ling, 1898 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Carrie E. Breck (1855–1934)

Lyrics

O Fa­ther of love, un­to Thee I be­long,
Thy love and Thy la­bor to share;
Whate’er Thou com­mand­est
My soul shall be strong,
Courageous to do and to dare.

Refrain

I’m rea­dy, O Fa­ther,
To be or to bear;
I’m rea­dy to go or to stay;
Wherever my du­ty,
I know Thou art there,
And there I will sweet­ly obey.

I see not the fu­ture,
So plain un­to Thee,
But safe­ly in Thee will I trust;
Thou know­est my frame,
And Thou com­fort­est me,
Remembering I am but dust.

Refrain

No ser­vice I ren­der,
Dear Father, for Thee,
Shall ev­er seem hard, by Thy side;
The bur­dens too hea­vy
Thou tak­est from me,
And I in Thy peace shall abide.

Refrain

I shall not be lone­ly, or wea­ry, or sad,
For Thou art my ten­der­est friend;
To shel­ter and guide me
And make my heart glad,
And I in Thy peace shall abide.

Refrain