In preparation for this morning’s sermon, I came across some information about a favorite song of praise, How Great Thou Art.
The song is taken from a poem written by Swedish poet Carl Boberg in 1885, titled “O Store Gud”. The poem has a total of nine verses.
The inspiration for the poem, in Boberg’s own words:
“It was that time of year when everything seemed to be in its richest colouring; the birds were singing in trees and everywhere. It was very warm; a thunderstorm appeared on the horizon and soon there was thunder and lightning. We had to hurry to shelter. But the storm was soon over and the clear sky appeared.
When I came home I opened my window toward the sea. There evidently had been a funeral and the bells were playing the tune of “When eternity’s clock calls my saved soul to its Sabbath rest”. That evening, I wrote the song, “O Store Gud”. (secondary source, Wikipedia)
His poem was set to a traditional Swedish melody. Interestingly, the current version of the song is based upon a translation of that poem by an English missionary Stuart K. Hine, and our current melody is Russian in origin. Kine also added some original material, with a less strict translation of the poem itself.
However, there is another English effort by E. Gustav Johnson that is more faithful to the original poem. It appeared in one songbook The Covenant Hymnbook, published in 1973, titled O Mighty God. It is interesting that this version can also be sung to the melody with which we are familiar. The words are beautiful:
O Mighty God
O mighty God, when I behold the wonder
Of nature’s beauty, wrought by words of thine,
And how thou leadest all from realms up yonder,
Sustaining earthly life with love benign,Refrain:
With rapture filled, my soul thy name would laud,
O mighty God! O mighty God! (repeat)When I behold the heavens in their vastness,
Where golden ships in azure issue forth,
Where sun and moon keep watch upon the fastness
Of changing seasons and of time on earth.When crushed by guilt of sin before thee kneeling,
I plead for mercy and for grace and peace,
I feel thy balm and, all my bruises healing,
My soul is filled, my heart is set at ease.And when at last the mists of time have vanished
And I in truth my faith confirmed shall see,
Upon the shores where earthly ills are banished
I’ll enter Lord, to dwell in peace with thee.
Whichever version is sung, it is proper to sing and pray our praises to God! We are truly moved to wonder at His “power throughout the universe displayed.”
“Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, for to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (Psalm 5:2-3).
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