This My Inheritance

All Sons and Daughters' “This My Inheritance” sets the opening of the apostle Peter's first letter to music. The lyric follows that passage closely, speaking of an inheritance that “will never spoil or fade,” kept in heaven by faith until the Saviour comes.

The verse says that God's power will be its shield, and that Jesus Christ is the only light by which it is revealed. Then the song breaks into a refrain of praise, “All praise, all praise, all praise be to God, always, always and forever.” The next section turns to hardship, since the passage says faith is tested through suffering and trial, and that it is worth more than gold. Our only hope is described in those terms, and the singers say that faith will make their song rise. A line borrowed from the old doxology follows, “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, a world without end, Amen.” The closing words are personal: nothing can take this inheritance away, not even death, and with the last breath the singer will see the face of the Saviour. The arrangement is folk-leaning and gentle, which suits the weight of the words and makes the song a comfort at funerals and in seasons of loss.

An inheritance that cannot spoil is 1 Peter 1:3-5. Faith worth more than gold is 1 Peter 1:7, and seeing his face is Revelation 22:4.