How
Great Thou Art
A young minister’s two-mile walk in the rain provided the 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
This
great hymn has a history that stretches back over a hundred years. The
original song was written by a young Swedish preacher, Carl Boberg, and
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.
How
Great Thou Art is
probably the all-time favorite hymn today. Although its origin had roots
in Europe, it was not widely known until 1957, when the Billy Graham
Crusade in New York City launched it on a never-ending spiral around the
world. It was performed nearly a hundred times during those meetings and
countless times ever since.
One cannot sing this majestic hymn of praise and adoration
without realizing anew the omnipotence of the Creator who did it all.
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:
CHORUS:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
(2) 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:
(3) 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 there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:
CHORUS:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
(2) 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:
(3) 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 there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
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