Bright yellow daffodils burst out of the ground trumpeting to us the song of spring. After a long winter, especially here in Wellsboro, the tease of warmer, brighter weather arouses gleeful anticipation. For this reason, our family has chosen, “For the Beauty of the Earth” as our April hymn of the month.
Folliott S. Pierpoint wrote “For the Beauty of the Earth” in the spring of 1863, sitting on a hilltop outside Bath, England, taking in the country view with the Avon River winding through. The hymn invites us to think about God’s magnificent gift of creation and the gift of his instrument of recreation, the church.
Every created thing can reveal something of the glory of God to us if we have the natural and spiritual senses to observe it (Romans 1:19-20). The Psalmist declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). God causes the sun to rise over and the rain to fall upon both the evil and the good, reminding us that God’s blessings fall on all people, even those who reject him (see Matthew 5:45). God provides sustenance for the birds of the air and dresses the lilies of the field to teach us about his care for us (see Matthew 6:26-29). Scripture exhorts us to consider the ways of the ant and be wise (see Proverbs 6:6). “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you,” Job said (Job 12:7).
Less than ten years before Pierpoint wrote, “For the Beauty of the Earth,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning said something along the same lines in her epic poem Aurora Leigh:
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more from the first similitude.
Pierpoint originally wrote “For the Beauty of the Earth” as a Communion hymn. The original version of the hymn repeated the phrase “sacrifice of praise” in its refrain to remind us of the sacrifice of Christ for our sins on the cross. Whenever we partake of communion we remember Christ’s sacrifice.
You can find this phrase in Hebrews 13:15 as well, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (ESV). Whether we use our lips to lift up the bread and the cup or sing praises to God, we are offering up to him a sacrifice of praise. Let us sing!
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
this, our sacrifice of praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
this, our sacrifice of praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
this, our sacrifice of praise.
For each perfect Gift of Thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and Divine,
Flowers of earth, and buds of Heaven:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.
Bible Memory Verses
Hebrews 13:15-16 (ESV)
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
You can listen to “For the Beauty of the Earth” here:
For the Beauty of the Earth – Keith & Kristyn Getty
If you would be interested in listening to some of our family’s previous month’s hymns, feel free to check out our playlist on Spotify:
