From “O Store Gud” to “How Great Thou Art” In 70 Years

In 1885, a Swedish Pastor named Carl Boberg went out for a ride in the country on a pretty Sunday afternoon after church. But he was soon pelted by a tremendous storm with thunder and lightning, which was very impressive, if not outright terrifying. Fortunately for him, the storm blew over as fast as it came; and he was delighted to see birds singing in the trees and a beautiful rainbow in the sun-dappled aftermath of the storm.

Pastor Boberg was so inspired, that he wrote a poem of 9 stanzas entitled “O Store Gud” or “O Great God”. The local newspaper was happy to publish his poem, and before long, a long-forgotten musician put a popular melody to it, and it had started being sung in churches by 1888.

The hymn was so popular that it was translated to German in 1907; and then later to Russian in1912.And in 1925 E. Gustav Johnson translated 5 of the verses to English, with the title “O Mighty God”. But that’s not the hymn that we all know and love.

An English missionary to the Ukraine named Stuart Hine was using the Russian hymn in his church services, and added some verses of his own. He began translating it into English, but was forced to return to England at the start of World War II.

Finally, Mr. Hine completed his translation and published the work in 1949, as “How Great Thou Art”.It was in London, in 1954 that Billy Graham heard the song, and started using it in his crusades.

The song was made world-famous in 1957 by Billy Graham’s crusade at Madison Square Garden in New York City; the poem that Pastor Boberg was inspired to write 70 years before that had lived on, after being translated and interpreted by Swedish, German, Russian, Ukrainian, English and American musicians. And the glory of God that was revealed in a thunderstorm and a rainbow in Sweden in 1888, has continued to be celebrated and glorified in music around the world ever since.

 Iron Sharpens Iron.