How Great Thou Art - Tribute To The Hymn

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How Great Thou Art

"How Great Thou Art" Is A Most Popular Christian Hymn

I have set out to make a few hubs on some of my favorite hymns. I really do not know which is my favorite. There are so many I love, and my opinion changes like a child in a candy store every time I feel the imprint of each song’s message. I know I am a little old fashioned, but in our church, the singing of the hymns is my favored music. I try to appreciate all types, but when songs like "How Great Thou Art" are played and sung, I can't help but enjoy a holy heart warming worship. "How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn authored by Carl Gustav Boberg in Sweden in 1885, translated into English by Stuart K. Hine. It was popularized by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during Billy Graham crusades.

Carl Boberg

Carl Boberg (1859-1940) was a Swedish poet, writer, and legislator best known for writing the unique Swedish lyrics of "O Store Gud" (O great God, the hymn per se being known universally in English by its common title "How Great Thou Art").

Boberg was born in Mönsterås, Sweden, near Kalmar. He was a carpenter's son, worked briefly as a sailor, and served as a lay minister. He published more than 60 poems, hymns and gospel songs.

How Great Thou Art Lyrics

Verse 1:

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Verse 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:

(Repeat Refrain.)

Verse 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:

(Repeat Refrain.)

Verse 4:

When Christ shall come with shouts 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!

(Repeat Refrain.)

The Story of "How Great Thou Art"

Below is a fairly literal translation from Swedish into English, of the first verse and refrain of "O Store Gud":

O, GREAT GOD!

When I the world consider

Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word

And how the webb of life Thy wisdom guideth

And all creation feedeth at Thy board.

Refrain:

Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise

Oh, great God

Oh, great God.

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This translation from Swedish to English is different from the words we use today,

Carl Boberg wrote this poem with no thought of it becoming a hymn. He did not write any music to the text

After publication, the poem was mostly forgotten. Several years later, Boberg attended a meeting and was surprised to hear his poem being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody.

This original melody was different from the arranged melody made by Stuart K. Hine and copyrighted in 1949 and 1953.

For more on the story of the song (THE STORY OF HOW GREAT THOU ART):

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