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!
Carl Boberg, 1886 [Key: F]
Verse 1 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 throughout The universe displayed!
Chorus 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!
Verse 2 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,
Chorus 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!
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!
Chorus 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!
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!
Chorus 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!
The History of the Hymn from Google Gemini
The history of the beloved hymn “How Great Thou Art” spans several decades, multiple languages, and a journey across continents before becoming the global worship anthem it is today. [1]
⚡ The Origin: A Swedish Thunderstorm (1885)
The song began as a nine-stanza poem titled “O Store Gud” (“O Great God”), written in 1885 by a Swedish poet and lay minister named Carl Boberg. [1]
While walking home from a church service near Mönsterås, Sweden, Boberg and his friends were caught in a sudden, violent midday thunderstorm with flashing lightning and severe winds. Just as quickly as it arrived, the storm cleared into a peaceful calm over the bay. Boberg returned home, opened his window toward the sea, and heard the sweet singing of birds from the woods and the quiet tolling of church bells in the distance. Deeply moved by this stark display of God’s power and subsequent peace, he fell to his knees in adoration and penned the original verses. In 1888, the words were first matched to a traditional Swedish folk melody. [1, 2, 3]
🌍 The Global Journey and Translations
As the hymn grew in popularity across Europe, it underwent a multi-language transformation: [1]
- German (1907): Manfred von Glehn translated the Swedish text into German.
- Russian (1912): Russian pastor Ivan Prokhanoff adapted the German version into a Russian hymn titled “Velykiy Bog”. [1, 2]
🏔️ The English Adaptation (1930s–1949)
The English version we know today was created by British Methodist missionary Stuart K. Hine. In the early 1930s, Hine and his wife were ministering in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, where they learned the Russian version of the song. [1, 2]
Inspired by his travels and the experiences of local believers, Hine translated and significantly reshaped the hymn into English, penning unique stanzas along the way: [1]
- Verses 1 & 2 were directly inspired by the mountain grandeur and storms he experienced while traveling. [1, 2]
- Verse 3 (“And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing…”) was inspired by hearing the loud, weeping repentance and conversions of Ukrainian villagers realizing God’s love during a reading of the Crucifixion. [1, 2]
- Verse 4 (“When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation…”) was written later back in Britain, inspired by displaced post-WWII Russian refugees who had suffered immense loss and deeply longed for their ultimate home in heaven. [1, 2]
Hine published the completed four-verse English version of “How Great Thou Art” in 1949. [1, 2]
To see a deeper visual breakdown of this journey across generations, you can watch this brief historical overview:
🎙️ The Rise to Global Prominence
The hymn reached international fame during the 1950s Billy Graham Crusades. Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard the song being sung in India and introduced it to Billy Graham’s team. Soloist George Beverly Shea famously performed it 99 times during the 100-night 1957 crusade at Madison Square Garden, solidifying it as a staple in modern Christian music. [1, 2, 3, 4]
It has since been recorded by over 1,700 artists.