How Great Thou Art

 I will extol thee, my God, O king; 

and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee;

 and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the Lord, 

and greatly to be praised; 

and his greatness is unsearchable.

- Psalm 145: 1-3 -

Here is a beautiful version of How Great Thou Art.

Enjoy the music while you ponder the precious words of this hymn.

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

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.

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.

When Christ shall come with shout 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!"

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!

 - Carl G. Boberg

The original text was written by a Swedish pastor,

Carl Boberg, in 1886.

While visiting a beautiful country estate, 

Boberg was caught in a sudden thunder storm.

The awesome and violent lightning and thunder quickly ended,

leaving clear brilliant sunshine

and the calm, sweet singing of the birds in the trees.

Falling on his knees in awe and adoration of Almighty God,

the pastor wrote nine stanzas of praise.

Swedish congregations began to sing his lines

to one of their old folk tunes.

The text was later translated into German and Russian

and ultimately into English by Stuart K. Hine and his wife.

How Great Thou Art reminds us of God's unlimited power

and love in creation and redemption.

- Kenneth W. Osbeck - Amazing Grace -

O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, 

and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, 

that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?

- Deuteronomy 3:24 -

Great is the Lord, 

and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,

in the mountain of his holiness.

- Psalm 48:1 -

Great is our Lord, and of great power: 

his understanding is infinite.

- Psalm 147:5 -

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, 

that bringeth out their host by number: 

he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, 

for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest,

 O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, 

and my judgment is passed over from my God?

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, 

that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, 

fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

- Isaiah 40:26-28 -

O Lord, how great are thy works! 

and thy thoughts are very deep.

- Psalm 92:5 -

He hath made the earth by his power, 

he hath established the world by his wisdom, 

and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

- Jeremiah 10:12 -

Have a blessed Lord's Day,

precious friends!