Then Sings My Soul

In 1886 on his way home from services in Kronobäck, Sweden, Carl Boberg found himself caught in a thunderstorm.

“We hurried to shelter. There were loud claps of thunder, and the lightning 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.” -Carl Boberg

Upon arriving home, he wrote the words to a poem entitled ‘O Store Gud,’ (How Great Thou Art). The poem was later set to a Swedish folk tune and translated into German and Russian. In the early 1920s, the Rev. and Mrs. Stuart K. Hine left their home in England for Poland, where they learned the Russian version of Boberg’s song, “O Store Gud.” Hine then wrote original English lyrics and made his arrangement of the Swedish melody.

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 is displayed.

In 1957, J. Edwin Orr introduced “How Great Thou Art” to audiences in the United States in a roundabout way by attending a conference in India. Music was not his goal as he was there to preach. Orr heard Hine’s English translation sung by a Naga choir from the state of Assam in north-eastern India. He was so impressed that he took the song back to America and had it performed at a college conference where he was speaking.

The children of Tim Spencer, a singing cowboy, and actor who had found fame singing in the Sons of the Pioneers alongside Bob Nolan and Roy Rogers, attended that fateful conference. Spencer owned Mana Music, Inc., a Christian music publisher. He quickly arranged to buy the rights to the song and then began publishing it.

A short time later, it began its expansion into popularity through the Billy Graham New York City Crusade, where it was sung 99 times. In 1959 it became the theme song for Billy Graham’s weekly radio broadcast, bringing “How Great Thou Art” into the national consciousness and to the ear of artists like Elvis Presley. The hymn was the title track of Elvis Presley’s second gospel LP, How Great Thou Art, released in March 1967. The song won Presley a Grammy Award for “Best Sacred Performance” in 1967.

There are over 1700 documented recordings of “How Great Thou Art.” It has been used on major television programs and motion pictures and named the favorite Gospel song of at least three United States presidents. My father was among the many people who claim this hymn was their favorite.

My father passed away near the end of the year in 2004, and me and my siblings sang this hymn at his funeral. Even though I was familiar with the hymn and had performed it many times in various groups and bands, I was moved in a new way when I sang the words:

When Christ shall come, with a shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Singing it to my father’s memory brought forward this hymn’s beauty. There’s nothing like a good hymn to feel closer to the Lord. Singing out those lyrics makes one feel like His strength and love wash over you.

When I think that many chance encounters and serendipitous occurrences combined to birth “How Great Thou Art” and bring it to prominence, it’s hard not to be amazed by the sheer improbability of it all.

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

It’s a little like pondering the creation of the earth and the atonement of Jesus Christ. The story of this beloved hymn is a mirror of my understanding of the mysteries of God. Every layer that I uncover is laid on again with a new mystery.

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!