This Is My Song (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 887)
This is my song,
O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar
and mine.
This is my home, the country
where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams,
my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands
are beating
With hopes and dreams as true
and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than
the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too
and clover,
And skies are everywhere as
blue as mine.
Oh, hear my song, O God of all
the nations,
A song of peace for their land
and for mine.
Text: Lloyd Stone, Georgia Harkness; Music: Jean Sibelius
Devotion
Lloyd Stone wrote verses one and two of this hymn at the age of 22. Having studied music at USC, he planned to be a teacher, but joined a circus in Hawaii, where he spent the rest of his life. At the time of its writing in 1934, the world was “between wars” and he was imagining a time when the world (not just America) could come together in peace. Verses 3-5 were added by Georgia Harkness, a Methodist pastor.
This hymn has become the song of many denominations around the world. Our nation is “between wars” but the world is not. My heart breaks—and so does God’s—for the raging conflict in Ukraine. My heart broke—and so did God’s—when 1200 Israelis were killed by terrorists in October 2023. And hearts continue to break in heaven and on earth for Palestinians in Gaza who live as nomads with no place of safety.
Prayer
Prince of peace, reign peace down on us—not just on me, or our land, but on every nation and tongue; all who long to live in security. Imprint on world leaders the desire to be seekers of a lasting peace for all. Amen.