Then Sings My Soul

Good evening! I am so very excited to be starting something new with you. I know, I have Women's Biblestudy to share with you, and lessons that I'm learning in contentment, and my LifeGroup Study, "Radical,"....when did life get so busy that I stopped being able to keep up?! Hopefully you will find a cozy chair and be able to relax a bit while you read all the new things I have to share with you. While we are waiting to roll back around to all those other studies, let your soul sing with me! Wednesdays are going to become my favorite! You know how I just love music? Many blogs of mine include songs to tie into the entry. Wednesdays are going to be dedicated strictly to songs! I'm starting Hymn Wednesdays. Maybe you are not traditional and are rather bored with hymns. Maybe you are very traditional and loathe contemporary music. Maybe you are somewhere in the middle and just want to sing songs that are about God and not about you. Well, no matter where you fall between the Traditional/Modern Spectrum, I hope that Hymn Wednesday's will be a blessing to you! We are going to find out where songs came from, who wrote them, and what they mean to me. Welcome, and let's let our souls sing!
We are going to begin with one of my favorite hymns. How Great Thou Art. (Perhaps you had already guessed that'd be the first hymn based on the title of this series.) This hymn actually began as a poem in 1885 when Carl Boberg, a 26 year-old Swedish minister, wrote about our Mighty God. Translated to English, his poem reads "When I the world consider which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word, and how the webb of life Thou wisdom guideth and all creation feedeth at Thy board. Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise! Oh, great God, Oh, great God!"
This poem literally went around the world being transformed into the song we know today. Several years after releasing his poem, Carl was surprised to hear it being sung to an old Swedish Melody, but neither the poem or the hymn achieved widespread fame...until some time later.
An English Missionary, Stuart Hine, heard the hymn in Russia. He was so moved that he modified and expanded the words, making his own arrangement of the Swedish melody. His first three verses were inspired by Russia's rugged Carpathian Mountains. While caught in a thunderstorm in a Carpathian village he wrote the first verse. The second was written as he listened to birds singing near the Romanian border (and how easy it is to be inspired when Romania has anything to do with it...). The third verse was written as Stuart Hine witnessed many of the Carpathian Mountain dwellers coming to Christ. And the final verse came upon his return to Great Britain.
This beautiful hymn made its way to India, Toronto, and London before finally blessing the land of the free with it's beauty and truth. Oh how I would have loved to have been there in the beginning hearing the Naga Tribespeople in Assam singing of how great God is! In 1957, Bev Shea along with a choir sang the majestic refrain 99 times! Can you imagine the heavenly sound that was spreading through heaven as God's people repeated 99 times "Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art! How great Thou art!" How moving!
I believe I've mentioned this before, but at the risk of sounding crazy once again I will remind you that music moves me and speaks to me in ways I cannot express. I literally can feel my soul within me when I sing praises to my King. I am and always have been a 1st Soprano. My voice is high and isn't afraid to sing higher. Something about this particular hymn though...when I sing it, no matter what key I'm in, if I am not paying attention to my vocal chords, I...no joke...choke through the whole refrain. Getting through each verse is hard enough. But when I get to the refrain, it is as if my soul is clawing its way out of me and trying to get into heaven to be with my Father. Do you have any idea what I am talking about, or is this all nonsense to you? All I'm saying is, when I sing of how great my Father is, I feel His presence all around me. This body He has given me is just a harness for my soul. And one day, what a glorious day it will be, Christ will come with shout of acclamation and take me home. What joy shall fill my heart! And I will bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, My God! How Great Thou Art! (Tears flood my eyes just thinking of that moment!)
I know it has been a long blog, but as always, I want you to soak up the lyrics. Dwell on them, and be breathless and speechless as you praise God for how great He is!
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee! How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour 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 Saviour God, to Thee! How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour 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 Saviour God, to Thee! How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour 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 Saviour God, to Thee! How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee! How great Thou art! How great Thou art!