This will be a hodge-podge blog. History, lists, whimsy. Randomness. I'll be all over the place.
Sunday, November 21, 2021
THE STORY BEHIND THE HYMN: HOW GREAT THOU ART
Carl
Boberg had worked as a sailor but quit that job to begin serving as a
lay-minister in his native Sweden. He would go on to be the editor of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden periodical Sanningsvittnet
(“Witness of the Truth”). He also served as a member of the
Swedish Parliment. He published many volumes of poetry which also
included hymns. He also helped to compile the first two hymnals of
the Swedish Covenant church.
The
story goes he was walking home from an afternoon church service near
Kronobäck, Sweden when suddenly a thunderhead appeared. Lightning
lit up the afternoon and thunder rang out in loud claps. Robust winds
swept the meadows and fields of grain. Boberg got moving to find
shelter. Just as quickly as the unexpected storm came it soon
stopped. We all know how the world is after a refreshing rain storm.
It was no different that afternoon. Once home Boberg opened a window
to let in the fresh air and to savor the sight before him. Something
had stirred deep in his soul as he surveyed what lay beyond his
window. The bay of Mönsterås was like a mirror. From the woods
across the bay a thrush was singing. From somewhere in the distance
church bells pealed in the evening quite. The contrast between the
storm and the calm afterwards moved Boberg to sit down and begin
writing. The result was the poem “O Store Gud” (“O Great God”).
On
March 13, 1886 Boberg's nine verse poem was published in the
Mönsterås Tidningen ( Mönsterås News).
In
1888 in the Swedish province of Värmland
the storm inspired poem and an old Swedish folk tune (whose title is
lost in history) were put together. In the wake of that pairing the
poem, now a song, was sung in public for an occasion in church.
Eventually Boberg sold all the rights to his poem to the Svenska
Missionsförbundet (Mission Covenant Church).
Even
though several versions of the song were published in the late 1800s
it wasn't until the early 1900s that it jumped the Swedish border. In
1907, Manfred von Glehn translated the text from the Swedish into
German. It became the hymn, "Wie gross bist du." In 1925
Swedish-American E. Gustav Johnson translated the song into English;
however, this version was nothing like what we have today. When it
was printed it was only with verses 1,2 and 7-9. The song was
published in 'The Covenant Hymnal' using “O Mighty God” for it's
title. Even though Johnson's translation of the song appeared in
three hymnals there were those who wanted to replace it with a more
popular version. A better version would come to pass a quarter of a
century later thanks to a British missionary.
In
1927, a Russian version of the song by the evangelical leader Ivan S.
Prokhanoff appeared in Kimvali (Cymbals), a collection published by
the Baptist Press in Poland. English missionary Stuart K. Hine and
his wife heard the Russian version sung as a vocal duet in the
Ukraine. As the Hines later crossed into Sub-Carpathian Russia, they
took in all their eyes could survey. They remembered the hymn as they
marveled at the mountain scenery. Hine translated the song into
English albeit with poetic license. In 1949, he even changed the
title and the song still bears that new title, “How Great Thou
Art”. The first three stanzas were composed while in the Carpathian
Mountains. In 1939 when war broke out, Hine and his wife were forced
to return to England. They used the first three stanzas in
evangelistic endeavors during the “Blitz years.” The fourth
stanza was added after the war. Four stanzas began with “O Mighty
God, when I behold the wonder”. Despite being found in a few
hymnals, Hines version just never caught on. Below is the first
stanza and refrain of Hines' version:
O
mighty God, when I behold the wonder Of nature’s beauty,
wrought by words of Thine, And how Thou leadest all from realms
up yonder, Sustaining earthly life in love benign,
Refrain: With
rapture filled, my soul Thy name would laud, O mighty God! O
mighty God! With rapture filled, my soul Thy name would
laud, O mighty God! O mighty God!
In
1954, J. Edwin Orr, a British-American theologian and evangelist,
travelled to India. He was going to preach the Word of God and music
was the farthest thing from his mind. Music would get his attention,
however. While there he heard an English version of “How Great Thou
Art” sung by a Naga choir from the state of Assam in north-eastern
India. Orr was so moved by the song that he brought it back to
America. At a conference for college students where he was speaking,
he requested a performance of the song. The children of Tim Spencer,
a singing cowboy and actor who had found fame singing with the Sons
of the Pioneers, were in attendance at that conference during which
the song performed. At that time, Spencer owned Manna Music, Inc, a
publisher of Christian music. He quickly arranged to buy the rights
to the song and then did what all good publishers do—he started
pushing the song.
As
late as 1954, “How Great Thou Art” remained all but unknown in
the U.S., but with Manna Music’s backing the song eventually landed
in the hands of George Beverly Shea, famed soloist in Billy Graham’s
travelling crusade. Graham reportedly loved the song and quickly made
it his evangelical crusade’s signature song. Given Graham’s
reach, Shea all but introduced the song to the nation. He sang it
live on radio, before stadiums filled with thousands of people—and
during nationally televised events like the 1957 Madison Square
Garden Crusade, which ran for 16 weeks and was viewed by an estimated
96 million people.
William
Reynolds, a Baptist hymnologist, cites comments by George Beverly
Shea on the hymn's
introduction in the United States through the Billy Graham Crusades:
“We first sang [it] in the Toronto, Canada, Crusade of 1955. Cliff
Barrows [1923-2016] and his large volunteer choir assisted in the
majestic refrains. Soon after, we used it in the ‘Hour of Decision’
[radio broadcasts] and in American crusades. In the New York meetings
of 1957 the choir joined me in singing it ninety-three times!”
(Reynolds, 1976, 162).
The
words to “How Great Thou Art”:
Oh
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
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
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
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
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 then 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 How great Thou art, how great Thou
art
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