Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
Habakkuk 3:17–18
Words: Attributed to Robert G. Staples. The first known publication was in Musica Sacra: or, Springfield and Utica Collections United, edited by Thomas Hastings & Solomon Warriner (Utica, New York: William Williams, 1819), number 200. Chronologically, the attribution to Staples seems suspect, as his major works were published in the 1870s and 1880s.
Music: Chenies Timothy R. Matthews, 1855 (🔊 pdf nwc).
To Thee, in youth’s bright morning
Father of all, we pray;
While thought and fancy dawning,
Lead on the rising day;
To Thee, in life’s last even,
We’ll tune our feebler breath;
Hear all our sins forgiven,
And softly sleep in death.
When from death’s sleep we waken,
No fears shall us surprise;
All earthly things forsaken,
What joys shall meet our eyes!
With rapture then increasing,
For ever we’ll rejoice;
And praises never ceasing,
Shall wake each tuneful voice.
Though vine nor fig tree either
Its fruit or leaves should bear;
Though all the fields should wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God, the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in Him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.