How Great Thou Art
For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other". Isaiah 45:18
Carl Boberg, a 26-year-old Swedish minister, wrote a poem in 1885 which he called "O Store Gud" - "O Mighty God." The words, literally translated to English said:
When I the world consider / Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word And how the webb of life Thou wisdom guideth / And all creation feedeth at Thy board. Then doth my soul burst forth in song of priase / Oh, great God, Oh great God!
His poem was published and "forgotten" - or so he thought. Several years later, Carl was surprised to hear it being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody; but the poem and hymn did not achieve widespread fame.
Hearing this hymn in Russia, Engligh missionary, Stuart Hine, was so moved he modified and expanded the words and made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody. He later said his first three verses were inspired, line upon line, by Russia's rugged Carpathian Mountains. The first verse was composed when he was caught in a thunderstorm in a Carpathian village, the second as he heard the birds sing near the Romanian border, and the third as he witnessed many of the Carpathian mountain-dwellers coming to Christ. The final verse was written after Dr. Hine returned to Great Britain.
Some time later, Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard "How Great Thou Art" being sung by Naga Tribespeole in Assam, in India, and decided to bring it back to America for use in his own meetings. When he introduced it at a conference in California, it came to the attention of music publisher, Tim Spencer, who contacted Mr. Hine and had the song copyrighted. It was published and recorded.
During the 1954 Billy Graham Crusade in Harringay Arena, George Beverly Shea was given a leaflet containing this hymn. He sang it to himself and shared it with other members of the Graham team. Though not used in London, it was introduced the following year to audiences in Toronto.
In the New York Crusade of 1957, it was sung by Bev Shea ninety-nine times, with the choir joining the majestic refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou Art!
Excerpt from "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan
Thomas Nelson Publishers
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The music you are hearing is available for purchase!
"How Great Thou Art" can be found on Dino's album Healing Hands CD, along with many other wonderful hymns.
Click here to purchase this album! Also sample other tracks on the album online!
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Be sure to come back next week. We will be featuring "" -
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Current Note:
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O Lord, my God, When I in awe-some won-der, Con-sid-er all the
worlds Thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the roll
-ing thun-der, Thy pow'r through out The u-ni-verse dis-played.
Then sings my soul, My Sav-ior God to Thee, How great Thou art!
How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, My Sav-iour God, to
Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
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© 2006 DCK Music Group
All Rights Reserved
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