Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. This week is No. 5,059 of the broadcast.
Please note: Reservations are needed to attend “Music & the Spoken Word” in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Find out more about how to make reservations here.
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love of which from our birth
Over and around us lies, …
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, …
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 hymn of grateful praise.
(Lyrics from “For the Beauty of the Earth,” “Hymns,” no. 92.)
This world we get to live in is filled with beauty and reflects the artistic and loving nature of God. His beauty fills the world: from the heights of soaring mountains to the lowest valley floors, from shimmering lakes to the dry sagebrush of a prairie, from trees to flowers and from the dark night sky to morning’s first light. All these things and more testify that there is a God (see Alma 30:44).
They give evidence of His divine majesty and power, and yet at the same time affirm His love, concern and care for the one. The beauties of the Earth were given for our benefit, “both to please the eye and to gladden the heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:18).
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning once penned: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes. … Art’s the witness of what Is behind this show” (see “Aurora Leigh, book VII,” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, p. 304, gutenberg.org).
The beauty of God’s creations reminds us that He is not distant. His power surrounds us, and His love is personal. He is behind — and with — each of us.
As we explore this earth — spending time outdoors hiking and climbing, walking and running, sitting and observing, standing and pondering — we find truths that teach our hearts that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. We are living within the grandeur of God’s creations.
As we take time to see and discover the gift of nature’s beauty, we discover humility deep in our hearts, waiting to be uncovered. We may then figuratively take off our shoes (see Exodus 3:5), expressing reverence and gratitude to God and recognizing that we, too, are among His cherished creations. Our hearts then sing, “Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.”
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
