Let us sing of his glory!

“Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art.”
“How Great Thou Art” UMH# 77
 
Oh, how I love this hymn. It reminds me of God’s amazing creation. How Great Thou Art is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish hymn written by Carl Boberg in 1885. The English version and title are a loose translation by Stuart K. Hine from 1949. Hine wrote the first three verses after witnessing the beauty of God's creation and the revelation of God's love in the Carpathian Mountains. As Hine and his wife crossed into Sub-Carpathian Russia, the mountain scenery brought back the memory of this song. Stuart Hine and his wife heard the Russian version sung as a vocal duet in Ukraine. The first three stanzas were composed while in the Carpathian Mountains. When war broke out, Hine and his wife were forced to return to England in 1939. They used the first three stanzas in evangelistic endeavors during the “Blitz years.” The fourth stanza was added after the war. Recordings by numerous popular recording artists, you can find different versions of this hymn on YouTube, but perhaps none are as memorable as the rendition by Elvis Presley on his farewell tour in 1977 weeks before his death.
 
I remember the first time I heard Elvis’s version of this beautiful hymn. It brought me to tears. I was never a big Elvis fan till then. My mom would listen to his music every so often and we even talked about his life a few times when I was younger. This hymn comes with a lot of memories for everyone. Some are good but some are bad as well. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard this hymn played at funerals and how it brings comfort in a time of great sorrow. No matter the environment or the reason you listen to this hymn, my hope is that the words of this hymn bring you joy this Easter season.