Like many hymns, 'How Great Thou Art' started life as a poem that was then set to music. But what are its lyrics and history? We're here to run you through everything you need to know...
When was 'How Great Thou Art' written?
'How Great Thou Art' is a Christian hymn based on a poem by Swedish poet Carl Boberg, in 1885. The poem was entitled 'O Store Gud' in the original Swedish. It is said that the inspiration of the poem struck Boberg when he was walking home from church, listening to church bells. He was then met with a sudden storm, which later gave way to a peaceful sense of calm. Boberg then looked out over Mönsterås Bay, which looked glassy and mirrorlike before him. From the woods across the other side of the bay, Boberg could hear birdsong, with the continual tolling of church bells in the distance.
These lyrics were then set to a traditional Swedish folk song a few years later. It was Stuart K Hine (a British missionary) who later translated the lyrics into English – but he had come to them after they had been translated into many other languages already. This was in the early 1920s, and Hine came to the lyrics through the Russian version of Boberg's poem. As part of his exercise, he also made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody. It is this version that we know and sing today.
'How Great Thou Art' often ranks among the public's favourite hymns in polls run by programmes such as Songs of Praise.
How Great Thou Art lyrics
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r thru-out 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!
When thru 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,
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 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!
Find more lyrics to more famous hymns here
Top image: Mönsterås Bay, Sweden
