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Advent Hymnals

SDA Hymnal 641

God in His Love for Us

Words: Fred Pratt GreenMusic: H. Walford Davies

Studio

1God in His love for us lent us this planet,
Gave it a purpose in time and in space:
Small as a spark from the fire of creation,
Cradle of life and the home of our race.

2Thanks be to God for its bounty and beauty,
Life that sustains us in body and mind:
Plenty for all, if we learn how to share it,
Riches undreamed of to fathom and find.

3Long have our human wars ruined its harvest;
Long has earth bowed to the terror of force;
Long have we wasted what others have need of,
Poison the fountain, pollute its source.

4Earth is the Lord's: it is ours to enjoy it,
Ours, as His stewards, to farm and defend.
From its pollution, misuse, and destruction,
Good Lord, deliver us, world without end!

Scripture
Genesis 1:28; Psalm 24:1

1973 The Hymn Society (Admin. Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The verse

Meter
11.10.12.11
Foot
dactylic (DUM-da-da) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

God in His love for us lent us this planet,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘11A
Gave it a purpose in time and in space:/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10B
Small as a spark from the fire of creation,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/˘12C
Cradle of life and the home of our race./˘˘/˘˘/˘/˘/11B

Verse 2

Thanks be to God for its bounty and beauty,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘11A
Life that sustains us in body and mind:/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10B
Plenty for all, if we learn how to share it,/˘˘/˘˘//˘/˘11C
Riches undreamed of to fathom and find./˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/10B

Verse 3

Long have our human wars ruined its harvest;/˘/˘/˘//˘˘/˘12A
Long has earth bowed to the terror of force;/˘//˘˘/˘˘/10B
Long have we wasted what others have need of,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘11C
Poison the fountain, pollute its source./˘˘/˘˘/˘/9B

Verse 4

Earth is the Lord's: it is ours to enjoy it,/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘//˘12A
Ours, as His stewards, to farm and defend./˘˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/11B
From its pollution, misuse, and destruction,˘˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘11C
Good Lord, deliver us, world without end!//˘/˘˘/˘//10B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.