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.
For comments on the composer, Hans Nägeli, see Hymn 41.