For the Beauty of the Earth

1  

For the beauty of the earth,  

For the beauty of the skies,  

For the love which from our birth  

Over and around us lies:  

Lord of all, to Thee we raise  

This our sacrifice of praise.  

2  

For the beauty of each hour  

Of the day and of the night,  

Hill and vale, and tree, and flow'r,  

Sun and moon, and stars of light:  

Lord of all, to Thee we raise  

This our sacrifice of praise.  

3  

For the joy of human love,  

Brother, sister, parent, child,  

Friends on earth, and friends above,  

For all gentle thoughts and mild:  

Lord of all, to Thee we raise  

This our sacrifice of praise.  

4  

For thy church that evermore  

Lifteth holy hands above,  

Off'ring up on ev'ry shore  

Her pure sacrifice of love:  

Lord of all, to Thee we raise  

This our sacrifice of praise.

    

Lyrics: Folliot S. Pierpoint   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZP5YMq9CZo&list=RD2ZP5YMq9CZo&start_radio=1

 I have heard people ask what is the meaning of "lifting hands" in worship. A lot of churches do not encourage such physical displays, preferring a more sedate atmosphere. We did not raise hands in the church I grew up in. We associated the gesture with charismatic (or "holy roller") churches. But it has always seemed to me that it is a natural human gesture in many different types of circumstances, such as great joy or great sorrow. At any rate, the gesture of lifting hands is found throughout the Bible:    

1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.    

Nehemiah 8:6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.    

Psalm 28:2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.    

Psalm 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.    

Psalm 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.    

Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.    

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.    

Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.    

Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.