A Beaming Hymn That Evokes God’s Wonderful Creation

Considered as one of the most popular hymns ever created, the origin of “This Is My Father’s World” is the written word from the pen of Minister Maltbie Bablock of New York. It’s said that Bablock would always tell his wife before stepping out into New York and the surrounding places near Niagara Falls for his nature walks, that he was venturing out to see God’s world. Bablock passed away in 1901 leaving his poetry to his wife.

To honor Babcock’s memory, his wife included the poem “My Father’s World” in his published collection of poetry, “Thoughts For Everyday”. Maltbie Bablock’s friend requested his wife’s permission to turn his poem “My Father’s World” into a hymn. Bablock’s friend was Christian hymn composer Franklin Sheppard who was a Philadelphia native, an elder and Baltimore Second Presbyterian’s Church’s musical director, and Presbyterian Church’s publisher of hymnals. Sheppard recalled a familiar music taught to him by his mother when he was young. He felt confident that the childhood song he cherished, the “Terra Beata”, was the tune which fitted “My Father’s World” best. Franklin was faithful to Bablock’s theme which was expressing the gratefulness of God’s children for the natural world He created for all. He took lines of the poem and engineered them into three eight-line stanzas and entitled the hymn “This Is My Father’s World.”

“This Is My Father’s World” became part of the hymnal “Alleluia” which was published by Sheppard in 1915. Multiple copies of the hymnal were used by many young children who attended Presbyterian Sunday School and since “This Is My Father’s World” is not only gleeful, it had a repetition of the line “This Is My Father’s World” throughout, children quickly learned it. Even adults loved its buoyant melody which was best sung with a light performance and an equally light piano or organ accompaniment. It’s memorable and has found its way into studio recordings: Famous singer Amy Grant recorded her version and made it her “Legacy” album’s first track and then again in her compilation album “Be Still and Know...Hymns and Faith.”, and Hollywood musical director Howard Shore tapped the opening of Sheppard’s melody for “This Is My Father’s World” on one of his shire tracks for the movie “Lord of The Rings.”