Over the years of writing this blog I have featured over 160 different hymns. I was surprised to realize that I have not yet chosen this one. It certainly is a favorite of so many people and was even once voted as America's favorite hymn. The writing of the hymn and its verses was actually influenced by two thunderstorms. A young minister's two-mile walk in the rain provided the original inspiration for "How Great Thou Art." The Reverend Carl Boberg of Monsteras, on the southeast coast of Sweden, was 25 years old when he wrote the lyrics of this song after trekking through a thunderstorm from a church meeting two miles away. It was first published in 1886, under the title "O Store Gud". Boberg wrote a poem, not meaning to write a hymn, but later heard it being sung to an old Swedish tune. More than forty years later, an English missionary, Stuart Hine, first heard the song in Russia. He and his young wife were missionaries to the Carpathian area of Russia, then a part of Czechoslovakia. There, they heard a very meaningful hymn that was a Russian translation of Carl Boberg's "O Store Gud" (O Great God). While ministering in the Carpathian Mountains, Hine found himself in the midst of a threatening storm. The thunder, as it rolled through the mountain range, was so awesome that it reminded Hine of the beautiful Russian hymn that had already become so dear to him. English verses began to form in his mind, verses that were suggested by portions of the Russian translation. He actually added the final verse. Although the hymn had its origin in Europe, in 1954 song leader Cliff Barrows was given a copy of the words and in 1955 he introduced the "new" hymn to an appreciative audience at Billy Graham's Toronto Crusade. There soloist Bev Shea, assisted by a large volunteer choir, first sang the stirring words. It still was not widely known until 1957, when the Billy Graham Crusade in New York City, with the singing of George Beverly Shea, launched it around the world. It was performed nearly a hundred times during those meetings and countless times ever since. I love the references in it to creation, to salvation and especially to the coming of Christ. What a triumphant final verse. One cannot sing this majestic hymn of praise and adoration without realizing anew the omnipotence of the Creator who did it all. Our heart must cry out, "How Great Thou Art"!
(1) O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(2) When through the woords, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(3) And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(4) When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
You can listen to it sung by George Beverly Shea right here. LISTEN
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