Schmolck was known all over Germany for his many hymns and spiritual songs. A number of them have been translated into English. This one reflects his fervent love for Christ and bears a message of trust and comfort which grew out of his own exhausting labors and physical suffering.
For further comments on Benjamin Schmolck see [Hymn 505].
The translation is by Jane Borthwick in her Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1854. For comments on Jane Borthwick see [Hymn 54].
MUSIC. JEWETT is from a melody in Weber’s opera Der Freischütz. The present arrangement was made by Joseph Holbrook, in 1862. The tune has become associated almost exclusively with this hymn in America.
Joseph Holbrook, 1822-88, born near Boston, was a tune writer of the school of Mason, Hastings, and Bradbury. He compiled several hymn books and was musical editor of Songs of the Sanctuary, a popular Methodist book under the editorship of the eminent hymnologist, Charles S. Robinson.
251. Father, whate’er of earthly bliss
Anne Steele, 1716-78
Based on I Tim. 6:6-8: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
Anne Steele was the first woman writer of English hymns. Her father was a timber merchant who for 30 years was deacon and occasional preacher in the Baptist Church in Hampshire, England, and then for 30 years more he was pastor, without salary, of the same church. On the day before Miss Steele was to be married, at the age of 21, her fiance met accidental death through drowning. Out of this bitter experience in her early life and a succession of other trials, came this lyric of resignation and hope. The original has 10 stanzas, the last three of which have been edited by Augustus Toplady to make this her best hymn. Miss Steele is the foremost of Baptist hymn writers.
MUSIC. NAOMI, a tune brought to America by Lowell Mason, was set to this hymn in his Modern Psalmist, 1839. It at once gained popularity and was included in many hymn books.