Mansion Over the Hilltop
I’m satisfied with just a cottage below,
A little silver and a little gold;
But in that city where the ransomed will shine,
I want a gold one that’s silver-lined.
Refrain
I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop,
In that bright land where we’ll never grow old;
And someday yonder we will never more wander,
But walk the streets that are purest gold.
Tho’ often tempted, tormented and tested
And, like the prophet, my pillow a stone,
And tho’ I find here no permanent dwelling,
I know He’ll give me a mansion my own.
Don’t think me poor or deserted or lonely,
I’m not discouraged, I’m heaven bound;
I’m just a pilgrim in search of a city,
I want a mansion, a harp and a crown.
Ira Forest Stanphill was born this date, 2/14/1914, at Bellview, New Mexico. (Bellview is just across the Texas line in the upper half of NM.) He is reported to be able to play the piano, organ, accordion, and ukulele by the time he was ten. He later was a minister and song writer. He died 12/30, 1993, at Overland Park, Kansas.
The following are some of his better known songs:
Happiness Is the Lord
He Came to Me
He Washed My Eyes with Tears
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
Jesus and Me
Room at the Cross for You
Suppertime
Time and Time Again
Unworthy
We’ll Talk It Over
You Can Have a Song in Your Heart