God of the ocean, earth and sky

Representative Text

God of the ocean, earth, and sky,
In Thy bright presence we rejoice;
We feel Thee, see Thee ever nigh,
And gladly hear Thy gracious voice.

We feel Thee in the sunny beam;
We see Thee walk the mountain waves;
We hear Thee in the murmuring stream,
And when the tempest wildly raves.

God on the lonely hills we meet,
God, in the vale and fragrant grove,
While birds and whispering winds repeat,
That God is there,—the God of love.

We meet Thee in the pensive hour
When wearied nature sinks to rest;
When dies the breeze, and sleeps the flower
And peace is given to every breast.

We see Thee when, at eve, afar
We upward lift our wondering sight,
We see Thee in each silent star
That glorifies the gloom of night.

But better still, and still more clear,
Thee in Thy holy Son we see;
There Thy own glorious words we hear,
And learn the way to heaven and Thee.

Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #87

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Author: John Reynell Wreford

Wreford, John Reynell, an English Unitarian minister, was born December 12, 1800, at Barnstaple; educated at Manchester College, and in 1826 became pastor of a Church in Birmingham. In 1831, on account of the failure of his voice, he withdrew from the active work of the ministry and, in conjunction with Rev. Hugh Hutton, established a school at Edgbaston. He wrote a History of Presbyterian Nonconformity in Birmingham, 1832, and Lays of Loyalty, 1837. He contributed fifty-five hymns to Rev. J. R. Beard's Collection, 1837. His most popular and valuable hymn is the one given in this book. The last years of his life were spent in retirement at Bristol, where he died in 1891. —Hymn Writers of the Church by Charles Nutter… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	God of the ocean, earth and sky
Author:	John Reynell Wreford
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

God of the ocean, earth and sky, p. 1295, i. 1. In several modern American collections, including the Boston Hymns for Church and Home, 1905, this hymn takes stanza i. from J. R. Wreford, as above, and sts. ii.-v. from S. Longfellow's "God of the earth, the sky, the sea."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

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