Who Wrote the Gospel Song How Great Thou Art

The Story You Don't Know behind How Great Thou Art

• Contributing Author
• 2016 24 Feb

Have You Always Heard of Carl Boberg?

When my children were younger, our family unit was in the habit of having a daily worship fourth dimension, and one affair we have always loved to exercise is to sing together. Each Sunday night we would choose a hymn and expect upwards the story behind it. These days our schedules are much crazier, with i of these 'children' in college and another serving in missions halfway around the world, but we all the same worship together as we talk about how God is working in our lives, and as we encourage one another and pray together.

I love the beauty of modern worship, just in a world where a worship song from x years ago can be deemed as "former", it was refreshing for united states of america every bit a family unit to sing music that has been around for many years, and in some cases centuries. The stories of how these songs came to united states are astonishing and often exciting, have been a treasure for my family and I, and accept been part of the spiritual foundation laid for them every bit they movement into the adult lives God has in store.

For example, did you lot know that the song "I Know Whom I Have Believed" was written by a Union soldier during the Civil War, who was held as a pow and became a laic while praying for another dying soldier?

Or that the prolific hymn author Fanny Crosby (she wrote over over viii,000 hymns!) was blind from infancy however was able to memorize the first v books of the Bible, the four Gospels, the Proverbs, and nearly of the Psalms?

Which brings us to Carl Boberg.

Carl Boberg had recently quit his work as a sailor and started working equally a lay-minister in his native Sweden (he would later go along to be a newspaper editor and a member of Swedish Parliament). In 1885, he was inspired by the sound of church building bells ringing during a wild thunderstorm, and penned the poem "O Swell God".

Although "O Groovy God" was published, Boberg's ix-verse poem didn't actually take hold of on, and it seemed destined to be all only forgotten. However, 3 years after someone out there liked it enough to lucifer the words with a traditional Swedish melody, and when Boberg establish out nigh information technology, he quickly published the poem in one case again in his own newspaper in 1891, this time with the musical notation added.

Fast forward a few decades to the 1930'southward – Somehow this poem put to music had traveled across borders, and English language missionary Stuart Hine heard the song (in Russian) while in Poland. Deeply moved by the song, he translated it into English, tweaked the musical arrangement, some of the wording, and took it dwelling house with him to England.

In English, the song was at present called "How Great Thousand Art".

On to the 1940's – Evangelist Dr. Edwin Orr heard this new version of the song beingness sung past native tribal people in Assam, Bharat, and beingness deeply inspired past it he brought the song dorsum to the United States. We are still unsure how the song ever got to India to start with.

In 1954 the song found its fashion into the easily of George Beverly Shea, who sang it nearly 100 times during Billy Graham'south 1957 New York crusade. In 1959 it became the theme song for Billy Graham's weekly radio broadcast, bringing "How Not bad One thousand Art" into the national consciousness.

In 1978 the performing rights organization ASCAP named the vocal every bit "The All-Fourth dimension Outstanding Gospel Vocal" in America. It has consistently been listed as one of the greatest hymns always written, commonly falling at #2 (right behind Amazing Grace).

How astonishing that this song, recorded over 1,800 times in the last 50 years, had its origins equally a poem in a pocket-size town in Sweden, written past a sailor turned lay-government minister, and somehow wound its way around the globe.

Carl Boberg would never know the influence of his poem.

He died in 1940 – over a decade earlier "How Great Thou Art" became famous at the Billy Graham crusade in New York City. Like Carl Boberg, we also may never know which of our words or actions will influence not just the people effectually us, but mayhap people living in the adjacent century. But we can bet in some way, large or pocket-size, they will practise just that.

Such are the stories of hymns.

In our increasingly myopic world, songs like these and the stories behind them are an inspiration. The lives of those who penned them, how they penned them, and the reasons why help to build a bail of legacy with those who accept gone before u.s.a., and those to come behind u.s.. Introduced to a new generation, these songs cease to be "old and wearisome", simply go all of a sudden relevant and filled with life; meaningful expressions of worship written by real people that we can relate to, sympathize, and appreciate.

Equally a writer and musician,Jason Soroski strives to communicate in a mode that is insightful, meaningful, relevant, and mindful of the small things that we may otherwise overlook in our everyday lives. He effectively taps into his experiences as a worship pastor, classroom teacher, husband, and homeschooling father of five to relate poignant stories from real-life experiences. Jason holds an Grand.Ed. from Missouri Baptist Academy, has been featured in various print and web publications, and currently resides in Houston, TX. Read more from Jason at his blogThe Way I See Information technology.

Publication appointment: February 24, 2016

montgomerybutiou85.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/the-story-you-don-t-know-behind-how-great-thou-art.html

Share this post