Meditations

“How Great Thou Art” by Carl Boberg
by Dr. Zelda Robinson on March 10, 2022In 1885, Carl Boberg, a Swedish editor and future politician, was walking home in the bayside town located on the south-eastern coast of Sweden when a thunderhead appeared on the horizon. The lightning flashed and thunderclaps shook the air. Boberg ran for shelter. When the storm began to relent, he rushed home.
When he opened his windows to let the fresh bay air in, he saw the vision of tranquility that he says stirred something deep in his soul. The sky was clear. had cleared. As the thrushes sang, he could hear in the distance, the resonant knell of church bells sounded. Recalling the roaring thunderstorm and now the calm of the atmosphere, Boberg sat down and wrote “O Store Gud”—the poem that, through a winding series of events would become “How Great Thou Art.”
The lyrics were published in a local newspaper, and an unknown Swede put “O Store Gud” to the tune of a Swedish folk song. In the late 1800s several versions were published, but it wasn’t until the early 1900s that “O Store Gud,” which translates literally to “O Mighty God,” hopped the Swedish border. In the first decade of the 20th century the song was translated into German, later a Russian version appeared. It was not until 1925, that the first English language version was penned. However, the English iteration, translated by the Swedish-American E. Gustav Johnson, is not the song we know today. It would be another quarter century, with the help of a British missionary, that the song would become what we know it as today.
In the early 1930s, Stuart K. Hine, an English missionary, heard the Russian version of “O Store Gud” for the first time. He later translated the song into English and in 1949 renamed the song to what we know it as today, “How Great Thou Art.” The song has been recorded multiple times by various artist.Like the hymn, “Holy, holy, holy,” “How Great Thou Art” exalts God and expresses His awesomeness is all the works of His hands. The greatest of all creation, mankind, to the simplest creatures. The lyrics express the greatness of God and His awe-inspiring works of creation. God’s greatness is echoed in everything around us, from the powerful roars of thunder to the, clashing sounds and magnificent display of lights lighting up the skies. The sun, the moon, and the stars all perfectly aligned in position and always on their post. The melody sang by the birds, the simple sounds of insects, to the cool and calming breeze after a storm. God is amazing.
The hymn recognizes God’s greatness embodied in Christ Jesus. He sacrificed everything, even His own life, to free mankind from sin and death. Christ is the manifested glory of God in flesh. The hymn also reminds us of the promise of Christ’s return, 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.
There is a reward that awaits those in Christ, He will take us home and that is a reason for joy. The joy of knowing when this life is over, we will live forever with the awesome God we call, Father. That joy overflows the heart.
Oh 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 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
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 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
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 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
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them… 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8