How Great Thou Art

1. How great thou art - 4th
November 2015
How Great Thou Art is a beautiful hymn of praisebased on the Bibleverse in Psalm 145:3 “Great is the Lord, and
most worthyof praise; His greatness no one can fathom” The Contemporary English Version says. “You are
wonderful, LORD, and you deserve all praise,becauseyou are much greater than anyone can understand…”The
original Swedish text was a poem entitled “O Store Gud”, written in 1886 by a Swedish preacher Carl Boberg
whose inspiration camefrom a visitto a beautiful country estate on the southeastcoastof Sweden. He got caught
up in a midday thunderstorm with awe-inspiringmoments of flashingviolence,followed by a clear brilliantsun.
Soon afterwards he heard the calm,sweet songs of the birds in nearby trees. The experience prompted Boberg to
“fall on his knees in humble adoration of his mighty God”. It is beautiful for us to consider how the song writer
portrays the Scriptures and how this great song of praisetruly does Praise the name of our Lord.
“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”. Have you ever wondered about some of the
works God’s hands havemade? Have you ever tried to count the stars? Look into the sky on a clear night,out of
the glareof streetlights, and you will see a few thousand individual starswith your naked eyes. With even a
modest amateur telescope, millionsmorewill come into view. Astronomers estimate there are about 100
thousand million starsin theMilky Way alone. Outsidethat, there are millionsupon millionsof other galaxies also!
Genesis 1:16 – “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern
the night. He also made the stars”.
You ever thought about how powerful the lightningis? The leader of a bolt of lightingcan travel atspeeds of
60,000 meters/second and can reach temperatures approaching54,000°F. Yes that is power and that was created
by God and it is hewho can will itand control it… We can read in Matthew 8:26-27 He replied, “You of little faith,
why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Even
the winds and the waves obey Him... No wonder the preacher Carl Boberg states: Then sings my soul, my Savior
God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! He is saying “You are immeasurably greatand powerful”
As Christian weknow that as much as God is powerful, He is also gentlein Spiritand the reason why even in the
midstof our problems we can experience peace and tranquility.The second verse sates:When through 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. We know that God holds all this power and might in His
hand and yet He blesses us with these gentle escapes. Even in difficulttimes and seems that you have no way out
we can get a deep understandingin Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted
among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” We need to have faith that He is our awesome God and believe
in His provision thatwill remove or offer even a better alternativesolution.Instead of worry that takes you
nowhere, we need to learn to sitstill,leaveitin His powerful hands. And then it happens,seems likeout of
nowhere itcomes, before you even realizewhat’s happening to you!
How Great Thou Art…how often do we think this way on a given day? Due to our day to day living we are faced
with associated problems,that over whelms us.We have only time for ourselves and thus keep askingfor
more…but do we thoughtfully take a moment to thank God for all Hehas blessed us with, all whatwe have, the
beauty of His creation that we see all around us? If we consider these blessings with due credence, we cannot help
but thank God’s for His beautiful creation that he has blessed us with. Of all thethings God created His most
treasured possession is man.But when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him, sin entered humanity. We got distanced
from God. Due to His lovefor us he sent His begotten son Jesus Christ,as an atoningsacrificeso thatwe could be
saved. He sacrificed Himself for our sin.We can learn this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The third verse beautifully states this:

2. “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…”
Instead of simply beinggood listeners atchurch,have we given due thought as to why He did this for us?. Jesus
knew what pain the cross would be and yet He willingly sacrificed Himself to saveus from eternal damnation. “I
scarce can take it in, that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin. How
Great THOU Art...” Jesus came to take away the sin of the world.As one thinks over our life,and try to remember
all the things you have done in disobeyingGod…itmight be impossiblebecausethere could be so many!. The lack
of love, the lies and misdoings,evil thoughts and desires…itwould be endless.We easily fall victimto all the evils
that is in the world,the lustof the flesh,and the lustof the eyes, and the prideof life…We can learn in I John 2:16
– “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from
the Father but from the world”. Jesus sacrificed Himself so that for those who believed in Him and in faith we may
be accepted back again…as Children of God. “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the
children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not
love their brother and sister”(1 John 3:10).
This final stanza has us looking forward for Jesus’ return. “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 thenproclaim, "My God,how great Thou art…” The last verse of the songtellsusof two important
aspects. HisAcclamationandour Adoration.In this final stanza has us looking forward to His return…to
that day when the trumpet will sound: “…in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). How
great thouart… His powerand His might is more than we can fathom…His gentle Spirit brings us peace
and tranquility…He brings us life eternal, and takes away all our sin…And His acclamation brings us
home to an eternity of humble adoration of the great God that we worship!
“Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom”
Psalm 145:3 “
Reveal yourplanforme
Therefore,Iurge you,brothersandsisters,inview of God’smercy,toofferyourbodiesasa living
sacrifice,holyandpleasingtoGod—thisisyourtrue andproperworship. 2
Donotconformto the
patternof thisworld,butbe transformedbythe renewingof yourmind.Thenyouwill be able to test
and approve whatGod’swill is—hisgood,pleasingandperfectwill. Romans12:1-2
Gods will –To be a livingsacrifice forGod
God lovesyouandwantsyou
Gods planfor youisbetterthan whateveryoumayhave foryour self