Some mornings I wake up and go outside. When the weather cooperates, I will drink a cup of coffee out on the porch. I listen to the birds chirping, look at all the things growing, and I remember to thank God for giving me such a glorious day. On one such morning recently, I remembered looking up the history behind an old hymn, so I went back and read it again. .

In 1885 a Swedish poet and lay minister by the name ofBoberg was visiting some friends in the country. He enjoyed all the plants and flowers and listening to the birds sing. One afternoon they saw a thunderstorm in the distance. As they sought shelter, loud claps of thunder and flashes of lightening were all around them. Strong winds swayed the trees and blew across the grain fields. As the storm passed, they saw clear skies and a beautiful rainbow and a gentle breeze was blowing.

Upon returning home, he wrote a poem entitled, “O Store Gud.” That poem was later set to a Swedish folk tune. In 1907, Manfred von Glehn translated it into German, and five years later a Russian pastor, Ivan Prokhanoff, made a Russian adaptation. In the early 1920s, the Rev. and Mrs. Stuart K. Hine left their home in England and went to Poland and Ukraine as missionaries. It was there they learned the Russian version of Boberg’s song, “O Store Gud.” Just before World War II Hine wrote original English lyrics and made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody. And so we now have “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;

REFRAIN:
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!

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;

But 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!”

We see God’s greatness in the world around us to be sure. But the thing that is the greatest for us is that He did not spare His Son, who bled and died to pay for our sin and defeated death for us all by rising again.

I hope you remember the greatness of God in your life today.