How Great Thou Art

One of the most popular songs of the last century was How Great Thou Art. Popularized by the wonderful soloist George Beverly Shea, this song continues to be sung by Christians around the world. Originally written as a poem in Sweden, this song has been translated in many languages – English in 1949. This was one of my favorites to sing as both a member of the Baptist Bible College Choir and a member of Cherry Street Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. I can still remember my colleague and friend Dr. Richard Boland leading this song, with accompanists LaNell Toates on the piano, and Beverly Boland on the pipe organ. The last verse and refrain would raise the roof. I would sing my lungs out on this song, as they say in the country.

Below you will find the lyrics, theological highlights of the hymn, and other media which will help you celebrate this great hymn of the church.

How Great Thou Art Lyrics

1 O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
consider all the works thy hands hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed;

Refrain:
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 When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze; [Refrain]

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; [Refrain]

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 there proclaim: “My God, how great thou art!” [Refrain]

CCLI: 2819853

The Theology

The first two verses of this song reflect the incredible sense of God’s handiwork as seen in nature or General Revelation around us. Considering all that God has made from the thunder storm to the incredible mountain, to the gentle breeze, to the wonderful brook or creek, we see God’s wonderous hand in all the world around us.

The song’s refrain captures our heart response to these things we see. It makes our soul sing out to God!

The final two verses turn our hearts toward our wonderful Savior. The third verse looks back to the cross and our response to what we see there. The fourth verse looks forward to the great day when Jesus comes back again.

Again, in light of these two verses, our heart can do nothing less than rejoice. It makes our soul sing out to God!

The Author and Story of the Song

The poem, ‘O Store Gud’ (O Great God), was written by the Swedish poet and lay minister, Carl Boberg, in 1885. According to hymnologist J. Irving Erickson, the poem is said to be inspired from a sudden violent thunderstorm which Boberg was caught in on his way home from church.

After the storm had cleared, and Boberg had returned home, he opened his window and looked out towards the sea. The evening was quiet, and Boberg could hear the sound of church bells. It was these sights and sounds that inspired the words of ‘O Store Gud’.

The lyrics were matched with a traditional Swedish folk song and first sung in a church in 1888, three years after the poem was written.

As the hymn’s popularity gained momentum, the lyrics began to spread across the world. British missionary Stuart K. Hine translated the lyrics into English. His translation was actually done from Russian lyrics, which were a translation of German lyrics, which were a translation of the original Swedish lyrics.

Hine also added two original verses of his own to the 1949 translation, which still feature in the lyrics today.[4]

Enjoy This Media

Some groups singing the song from YouTube:

This is George Beverly Shea singing this song for the first time at Madison Square Garden in New York, where he sang it every night for six weeks.

As an older man, he sings it on a Bill and Gloria Gaither’s Homecoming video.

Absolutely one of the best modern renditions of this song as a solo. This is just beautiful.

 

One of the earliest printed versions of the song from 1964 Christian Praise #20 [5]:

 

The version I grew up singing from Favorite Hymns of Praise, Hymn 34 [6]:

 

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