How Great Thou Art | Songs and Everlasting Joy

The hymn “How Great Thou Art” has a long history of translations and arrangements. It was originally in Swedish by Carl Boberg in 1888. He wrote while contemplating the nature around him and the beauty of the things God had created. It was published in magazines and made its way to Germany, where it was translated into German in 1907. In 1912 it went to Russia, where it was translated into Russian by Ivan Prokhanoff. It was there that a Methodist missionary named Stuart K. Hine saw it and used it in his missionary work around eastern Europe. Stuart translated three of the verses from Russian into English. He did not know it was originally Swedish. When Hine returned to England, he wrote the final verse, being inspired by Polish refugees who kept asking “when are we going home?’ He published his version, and the Russian version, in a magazine that went all over the world in 1949. It was then made popular when it was used in Billy Graham crusades. It has been added to and further arranged over the years since, but remains one of the most majestic hymns ever written.

How Great Thou Art

Verse 1
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,

Chorus:
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!

Verse 2
When thro’ 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,

Verse 3
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;

Verse 4
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!