Lyrics:

1. How beautiful thy temples, Lord!
Each one a sacred shrine,
Where faithful Saints, with one accord,
Engage in work divine.
How beautiful some aid to give
To dear ones we call dead,
But who indeed as spirits live;
They’ve only gone ahead.

2. How beautiful thy message, Lord,
The gospel, pure and true,
In these our days to earth restored
And taught to men anew.
How beautiful its faith and hope;
All mankind it would save,
Including in its aim and scope
The souls beyond the grave.

3. How beautiful thy promise, Lord,
That we may grow in truth,
And live, exalted by thy word,
In endless, glorious youth.
With loved ones sealed in holiness
By sacred temple rites,
Worlds without end we may progress
From heights to greater heights.

Text: Frank I. Kooyman, 1880-1963. (c) 1948 IRI
Music: Tracy Y. Cannon, 1879-1961. (c) 1948 IRI

-History: (Source: Wikipedia)

Written By: Frank I. Kooyman

Frank Iemke Kooyman (November 12, 1880 – September 13, 1963) was a hymnwriter who wrote several hymns used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Kooyman was born in Terschelling, West Frisian Islands, Netherlands on November 12, 1880. He moved to Amsterdam in 1897, and was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1899. From 1902 to 1905 he served as an LDS missionary in the Netherlands. Kooyman spent most of his adult life living in Utah.

In 1929 he returned to the Netherlands as mission president and served in this capacity for four years, residing there with his wife and three chilfren. He wrote many articles that were published in the local press while in this capacity.

While mission president, Kooyman translated at least fifty hymns into Dutch and published a Dutch hymnal. He later assisted in making new Dutch translations of the Book of Mormon,Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. He translated the temple ordinances into Dutch.

Kooyman worked in the office of the Church Historian on his return from the Netherlands. He was on the committee that compiled the 1948 English hymnal of the LDS Church.

In the current English edition of the hymnal are the following hymns for which Kooyman wrote the text:

• “In Memory of the Crucified” (hymn # 190)
• “How Beautiful Thy Temples Lord” (hymn # 288)
• “Thy Spirit Lord, Has Stirred Our Souls” (hymn # 157)
• “Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done” (hymn # 188)

Music By: Tracy Y. Cannon

Tracy Young Cannon (July 23, 1879 – November 6, 1961) was an American Latter-day Saint musician, composer, and musicologist.

In the 1985 English edition of the LDS hymnal, the following hymns are by Cannon:

• 9 “Come, Rejoice” (Words and music)
• 20 “God of Power, God of Right” (music)
• 73 “Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice” (words and music)
• 161 “The Lord Be with Us” (music)
• 167 “Come, Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn” (music)
• 234 “Jesus, Mighty King in Zion” (music)
• 288 “How Beautiful Thy Temples, Lord” (music)