We Plow The Fields

WE PLOW THE FIELDS

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from…the Father.” James 1:17

Words: Matthias Claudius, Paul Erdmann’s Fest, 1782. Claudius, a newspaper editor & agriculture official in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, heard the words sung by local farmers. Jane Montgomery Campbell translated them from German to English in 1861; her version first appeared in A Garland of Songs, by Charles S. Bere, 1862.

Music: “Wir Pflügen (Dresden),” Johann Abraham Peter Schulz; appeared in Lieder für Volksschulen mit Musik, edited by A. L. Hoppenstedt (Hanover, Germany, 1800). The music was first published anonymously, then later attributed to Schulz.

We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

Refrain

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

He only is the Maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

Refrain

We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.

Refrain