Hymn History-How Great Thou Art

  • May 15, 2011
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Hymn History How Great Thou Art O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder Consider all the works Thy Hand hath made, I see the stars; I hear the mighty thunder, Thy pow'r throughout, the universe displayed; 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! When through the woods; and forest glades I wander I 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; 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!" Carl Boberg (1859-1940) Carl Boberg was a twenty-six-year-old Swedish pastor when he wrote this poem in 1885. He originally titled it, “O Mighty God”. The poem was published and then forgotten, but several years later Boberg was shocked to hear it being sung to an old Swedish melody. Stuart Hine was the first person to make an official arrangement for the song. After that it took many years for the song to get around the world, but eventually Dr. J Edwin Orr heard ‘How Great Thou Art’ being sung in India and brought it back to the states to use in his own revival meetings. He contacted Mr. Hine and they had the song copyrighted and published. In 1954 Billy Graham Crusades began to use the hymn as their alter call.


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