If I asked you what is your favourite hymn, I’m sure there would be a wide variety of suggestions, but a few receive many votes. One of those would undoubtedly be “How Great Thou Art”. But I wonder if you know its origins?
This greatly loved hymn, which we sing with such enthusiasm, had its origin in southern Sweden in 1886. It was written by the author, Carl Boberg, a member of the Swedish Parliament. This is his account of the writing of his hymn: “It was in 1885, and in the time of year when everything seemed to be in its richest colouring; the birds were singing in trees and wherever they could find a perch. On a particular afternoon, some friends and I had been to Kronobäck where we had participated in an afternoon service. As we were returning a thunderstorm began to appear on the horizon. We hurried to shelter. There were loud claps of thunder, and the lighting flashed across the sky. Strong winds swept over the meadows and billowing fields of grain. However, the storm was soon over and the clear sky appeared with a beautiful rainbow.” After he’d reached home, he opened his window to see the sea, and clearly heard the church bells. That evening he wrote a poem, which we know as “How Great Thou Art”.
The poem was first set to a Swedish folk tune, and then in the early 1920s was given English lyrics and a new arrangement of the melody by the Rev. Stuart K. Hine, an English missionary working in Poland. It became really well known in 1957 when it was taken around the world with the Billy Graham Crusade.
So, that’s how we have:
“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.”
Love,
Margaret
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