In the 19th century, Maltbie Davenport Babcock, a Presbyterian pastor from upstate New York would often go for walks on the Niagara Escarpment overlooking Lake Ontario. Many times he would tell his wife that he “was going out to see the Father’s world.” Babcock’s words from his poem This is my Father’s world can give each of us hope and assurance.
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 earth be glad!
Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet. Amen! Our lives are safe because we live in our Father’s world!
