The hymn ‘How Great Thou Art’ was written by a Swedish pastor, Carl Boberg, in 1886. It is said he became caught in an intense thunderstorm that lasted only a short time, followed by brilliant sunshine and birds singing in the surrounding trees. What a contrast! If Boberg’s thoughts were meant to laud God, then he might as well have said ‘How Diverse Thou Art’. Boberg’s words were eventually translated into English and supplemented with additional thoughts by a missionary Stuart Hine, but it is Boberg’s experience in a great storm and a bucolic aftermath that really comes through in this great hymn. It shows us we cannot ignore God, no matter how much we might try. He speaks to people, who otherwise do not recognize Him, through awesome displays of thunder and lightning, as well as through acts of kindness. Just check it out the next time you see someone out in a storm…are people who are caught without an umbrella or some other protection calmly walking? No! They’re running, and if there’s a thunderclap, to casually turn one’s head and yawn means they’re either deaf or inhuman. But the awesome God is also compassion, in the face of Jesus. The same God whose voice sounds like thunder (John 12:28-29) and who will come with a loud voice (1 Thess. 4:16) is the same person who wept (John 11:35). I often am unnerved if I see two polar opposite personalities in someone in the space of a few moments, and perhaps that was Boberg’s reaction as well. He saw the terrifying God Almighty, and then the beautiful, peaceful, Great Shepherd. I think my God must know why I run from Him sometimes, and yet return later as He draws me close. This hymn’s background reminds me that mine is a pendulum existence, with God at the center. I may swing to one end or the other and feel that God is distant, but He’s too obvious for me to dismiss.
Information on the song was obtained at:
http://www.stinalisa.com/HowGreatThouArt.html
I love your blog! It's so meaningful to hear what the writers of these powerful songs were going through in life. Thanks for thinking of it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that this song has a root relationship to a thunderstorm....I FIRST heard this song sitting on a hillside in Salida, Colorado when I was 10 years old - on a "mission" trip with our church doing a VBS there...and in the distance, coming over those majestic Rockies, was a spectacular thunderstorm....and we sang "How Great Thou Art".....I've never been the same, and cannot sing that song without that visual in my head.
ReplyDeleteThis is going off on a tangent, but Karin's note reminded me of a time at church camp where we had an outdoor service in the early evening. The topic was God's majesty. As it continued, we could tell a storm was coming. Just as the speaker hit the high point of the lesson, we had a VERY close lightening strike and all the lights went out. Talk about an object lesson!
ReplyDeleteI also remember an episode one Sunday AM at Fairfax that Jim Maxwell was the speaker, and lo and behold the electricity went out...whether we sang Boberg's song that morning escapes me!
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