Christ My Song - 154
Rejoice in the beautiful earth - The beauty of nature
(Carl Johann Philipp Spitta/Richard Massie/
Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The beauty of nature.
1. Rejoice in the beautiful earth,
for well she deserveth our praise,
what tongue can declare all the worth,
which God to adorn her displays! PDF - Midi
2. And yet, tho' so richly endowed,
she is only the work of his hands,
a creature, which well may be proud
to do whatsoe'er he commands.
3. Rejoice in the moon and the sun,
and the stars brightly shining by night,
as the course, God appoints them, they run,
and lend us their lustre and light.
4. And yet, while they shine on our globe,
they are only the work of his hand,
the spangles adorning his robe,
the creatures that wait his command.
5. If then but his handiwork here
such blessings already impart,
O what must our rapture be there,
to repose on his fatherly heart!
Richard Massie, Lyra Domestica I, 1863, 13.
Translated from the German Freuet euch der schönen Erde - Die Schönheit der Natur
of Carl Johann Philipp Spitta.