“How Great Thou Art” originated from a poem, “O Great God”, written by Swedish poet, preacher, and politician Carl Boberg in 1885. He and some friends were returning home from an afternoon service when a thundercloud appeared. Lightning flashed, strong winds swept over the meadows, and thunder pealed in loud claps. But soon, the storm was over and the sky cleared. Carl’s great-grandnephew Bud Boberg later shared that the song was a paraphrase of Psalm 8, and was used in the underground church in Sweden during the late 1800s when the Baptists were persecuted.
The poem was later translated into English by British missionary Stuart K. Hine. In 1934, Hine arrived at a village in the Carpathian Mountains where he heard the story of a villager, Anna, reading the story of Jesus’s crucifixion to the villagers. Overcome with emotion, the listeners dropped to their knees, cried, and prayed, as a dozen men and women came to Christ. This led Hine to add the second verse to the song.
After WW1, Hine ministered to displaced Russian inmates. One inmate got separated from his wife at the end of the war. His wife was a Christian then, but he was not. Later he came to faith. He told Hine he looked forward to the day when he would be reunited with his wife so they could live and share their faith together. This story inspired the last verse of the song, which was finally completed in 1949. From 1885 to 1949 – the song took more than half a century to come together, amid stories of persecution, war, and separation, telling of God’s amazing works in nature and in the hearts of man.
We’ve been singing How Great Thou Art for so long, most of us have even memorized it. What is our story today as we sing? Today, our church might not be under persecution. We, in the Philippines are not at war, or facing the lack of freedom to read God’s Word. Are the lyrics of the song reflected in our lives today?
Is He really the LORD my God? Am I truly in awesome wonder? Do I stop to look at the world His hands have made? Do I ponder on His power displayed in all of creation?
Have I grasped the height, breadth, and depth of His love, that He sent His Son to die for me? Do I truly feel His immense sacrifice when I sing “I scarce can take it in?”
Or do I take for granted His grace –that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin? Why am I singing? To whom, for whom am I singing?
What is the posture of my heart as I sing? Am I joyful? Grateful? Is my worship in humble adoration? Am I faithful? Am I living in total dependence on the One I worship?
Jesus preached and taught his disciples on costly discipleship. Do I offer a daily sacrifice of praise? How do I worship when the way is dark? When life is not easy, will I remember the blessed hope that Christ shall one day come and take me home, and what joy shall then fill my heart!
Am I a credible herald of our great God? Is my worship anywhere near His Worth-ship? Only by grace. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer, so help me God, Amen!
One Comment
Thank you for your reminder of the greatness of our God.