Scripture Verse

Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Matthew 6:26

Introduction

Words: A. Hig­gin­son, in The Ser­vice of Praise, by J. Lin­coln Hall et al. (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack, 1900), num­ber 33.

Music: Gel­din­ga­da­lur Ar­thur Ber­ridge (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Hig­gin­son’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him or Ber­ridge (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

O bird so blithe, O bird so blithe,
How firm thy trust abid­eth!
Thou sow­est not, thou reap­est not,
And hoard­ed grain thou heap­est not;
Yet bird so blithe, O bird so blithe,
God for thy wants pro­vid­eth.

O li­ly fair, O li­ly fair,
How sweet thy beau­ty’s sto­ry!
Thou toil­est not, thou spin­nest not,
And earth­ly hon­ors win­nest not;
Yet li­ly fair, O li­ly fair,
Thou art ar­rayed in glo­ry.

O child­hood bright, O child­hood bright,
How sweet the joy thou bring­est,
When, trust­ful as the bird in air,
And sim­ple as the li­ly fair,
O child­hood bright, O child­hood bright,
Thy hap­py song thou sing­est!

O bird in air, O bird in air,
Think not of com­ing sor­row,
The Fa­ther dear who lov­eth all,
Doth bear thy wing, doth watch thy fall;
So bird in air, O bird in air,
Still leave to Him the mor­row.

O li­ly frail, O li­ly frail,
How soon thy glo­ry wan­eth!
Up-springing with the morn­ing glow,
At ev­en­ing’s breath thou li­est low;
Yet li­ly frail, O li­ly frail,
Thy frag­rance still re­main­eth.

O child­hood brief, O child­hood brief,
Tho’ swift thy days pass by us,
May thy firm trust, thy sim­ple grace,
Be aye our strength in man­hood’s race;
Then, child­hood brief, O child­hood brief,
Thy joy shall still be nigh us.