How Great Is Our God
The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty,
"How Great Is Our God" is structured as an extended doxology — an act of praise directed toward God for who God is rather than primarily for what God has done. The first verse draws heavily on Psalm 104 and Isaiah 6, clothing the divine majesty in creation language: light, darkness, and the trembling of all things before the divine voice. This is broadly consistent with Lutheran theology's affirmation of the First Article of the Creed — the God who creates and sustains all things, before whom all creation stands in appropriate awe. The language of majesty and splendor resonates with Lutheran doxological tradition stretching from Luther's own trinitarian hymns through Paul Gerhardt's nature poetry. The second verse is explicitly trinitarian, naming Father, Spirit, and Son and invoking the ancient Christological paradox of Lion and Lamb — the conquering Christ of Revelation 5 who is also the slain Lamb. This paradox sits at the heart of Lutheran theologia crucis: the hidden God revealed in weakness, the Lion who conquers through self-giving sacrifice. The 'age to age' and 'time is in His hands / Beginning and the End' language echoes Revelation 1 and 22 (Alpha and Omega) and connects to the eternal, pre-existent Christ of the Johannine prologue. Lutheran theology will want to note that the Lamb who was slain is not incidental but essential — the glory praised here is cruciform glory. The chorus functions as congregational acclamation rather than proclamation or petition, placing the singers in the posture of the heavenly choir of Revelation 4–5. For Lutheran worship planning, this text functions most naturally as a response to proclamation — an act of praise arising from the Gospel — or as an opening act of adoration. It does not carry explicit Law content (no diagnosis of sin or human inadequacy), nor does it announce the forgiveness of sins in explicit Gospel terms; it is pure doxology, which in Lutheran understanding is itself a fruit of the Gospel and belongs most naturally on the Gospel side of the Law/Gospel dialectic. It pairs well with trinitarian Sundays, Epiphany, or any occasion when the sermon moves from God's saving acts to the community's doxological response.
History & Background
"How Great Is Our God" was written in 2004 by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Ed Cash and published through sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs. The song emerged from the contemporary worship movement centered around Passion Conferences and the Atlanta-based worship community associated with Louie Giglio's ministry. It was recorded on Tomlin's album 'Arriving' (2004) and became one of the most performed worship songs in the world within a few years of its release, topping CCLI charts for multiple consecutive years and earning Tomlin the designation of the most-sung artist in the world according to Billboard. The song draws on a rich tradition of trinitarian doxology and majesty hymns, consciously echoing earlier texts such as Stuart Hine's 'How Great Thou Art' while articulating the divine attributes through vivid scriptural imagery — light, majesty, the Lion and the Lamb, Alpha and Omega. Its verse-chorus structure, with a repeated refrain on the phrase 'how great is our God,' made it immediately accessible to congregations across denominational lines. The text spread rapidly through Pentecostal, Baptist, non-denominational evangelical, and eventually mainline Protestant congregations. By the late 2000s and into the 2010s, the song had achieved genuinely global reach, being translated into dozens of languages and sung regularly on six continents. It has been included in numerous contemporary worship collections and received a notable multi-language global recording in which worshipers from multiple nations sing the chorus together in their own languages, which Tomlin has performed at large ecumenical gatherings. Its ecumenical spread into Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed congregations reflects the broader mainline engagement with contemporary praise music.
Bulletin Note
Text and music: Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Ed Cash, 2004. © 2004 worshiptogether.com Songs / sixsteps Music / Alletrop Music (admin. Capitol CMG Publishing). Used by permission. CCLI #4348399.
Preaching Connection
In a culture that measures greatness by dominance, accumulation, and self-assertion, this text invites congregations to contemplate a greatness that wraps itself in light and is revealed supremely in a slain Lamb — the upside-down majesty of the crucified and risen Christ. Preachers can use the Lion-and-Lamb paradox as a lens for preaching on divine power, the theology of the cross, or the nature of Christian worship as a reorientation of the imagination toward the God who is genuinely and surprisingly great.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- The Third Article (Concerning Sanctification) Small Catechism — The Apostles' Creed
Themes
praise and adoration divine majesty Trinity Christology Lion and Lamb creation eternity doxology light sovereignty of God