O Lord My God When I in Awesome Wonder
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
Theologically, 'How Great Thou Art' traces a movement from natural revelation to special revelation to eschatological hope—a structure that maps well onto Lutheran theological categories, though it requires careful homiletical framing. The first two stanzas dwell in the realm of creation: the stars, thunder, forests, and mountains bear witness to divine majesty and power. This corresponds to what Lutheran theology calls the 'knowledge of God the Creator' available through creation (cognitio Dei creatoris), which Luther himself affirmed in his Large Catechism exposition of the First Article of the Creed. The soul's singing response in the refrain captures precisely the doxological impulse that creation is meant to evoke—not saving knowledge, but true and appropriate awe before the Creator. Luther's own eloquence about creation in the catechisms and his hymns like 'Now Thank We All Our God' share this register of wonder. The third stanza pivots decisively to the Gospel in the Lutheran sense: it is the cross of Christ, God sending His Son, bearing our burden, bleeding and dying for sin, that constitutes the heart of saving knowledge. This stanza articulates substitutionary atonement in language that would be at home in Luther's own passion hymnody—'my burden gladly bearing,' 'to take away my sin.' For Lutheran worship planning, this stanza is the theological center of gravity, and the refrain 'How great Thou art' takes on its fullest meaning here: God's greatness is most profoundly displayed not in the thunder but in the cross. The fourth stanza extends this to the Parousia, Christ's return in glory, completing the arc from creation through redemption to consummation—a thoroughly Lutheran eschatological structure that resonates with the Advent hope and the Communion liturgy's 'until He comes again.' The Law/Gospel tension is muted but present: the soul's inability to 'take it in' (stanza 3) acknowledges human unworthiness before grace.
History & Background
The text originates with Swedish poet and lay preacher Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940), who wrote the original Swedish poem 'O Store Gud' ('O Great God') in 1886. According to Boberg's own account, the poem was inspired by a sudden thunderstorm at Mönsterås on the Swedish coast that gave way to calm sunshine and birdsong—an experience that moved him to profound worship. The poem of nine stanzas was published in 1886 in the Swedish Christian periodical Sanningsvittnet, and Boberg later set it to a Swedish folk melody. The pairing with the tune O STORE GUD became established in Swedish hymnody and spread to other Scandinavian languages in the late nineteenth century. The text passed through several intermediate translations before reaching English. A Russian translation by Ivan Prokhanoff appeared around 1912, and German translations circulated in Central Europe. English missionary Stuart K. Hine (1899–1989) encountered a Russian version while doing missionary work in Ukraine and the Carpathian mountains in the 1930s. Hine produced his own English paraphrase in stages, translating and adapting the first two stanzas from the Russian around 1939 and writing the third stanza based on his gospel preaching experience. The fourth stanza, with its eschatological focus on Christ's return, was composed by Hine after World War II and reflects the longing of displaced persons he encountered. Hine's four-stanza English version was published in his Gospel magazine 'Grace and Glory' and later distributed widely in leaflet form. The hymn came to international prominence after being featured by George Beverly Shea at Billy Graham's 1954 Harringay Arena crusade in London and the 1957 Madison Square Garden crusade in New York, where it was reportedly sung 99 times over the course of the meetings. Its adoption into mainline hymnals followed swiftly: the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), Episcopal Hymnal 1982, United Methodist Hymnal, and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006) all include it. It has become one of the most widely recognized hymns in global Christianity, transcending denominational and cultural boundaries while retaining both its creation-theology grounding and its evangelical gospel core.
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 856
- Glory to God — 625
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 532
- Lift Up Your Hearts — 553
- United Methodist Hymnal — 77
Bulletin Note
Originally written in Swedish by Carl Boberg in 1886 and freely paraphrased into English by Stuart Hine in the 1930s–1940s; brought to worldwide attention at Billy Graham's 1954 London crusade.
Preaching Connection
When the preacher has spoken of what God has done in creation and in Christ crucified, this hymn gives the congregation the only appropriate response—not argument or analysis, but the singing soul's cry: 'How great Thou art.' It moves us from the thunder of Sinai to the silence of Golgotha and finds God's greatness most stunning not in the storm but in the Son.
Themes
Creation and Natural Revelation Adoration and Doxology Atonement and the Cross Substitutionary Suffering Eschatology and Christ's Return Wonder and Awe God's Majesty Salvation by Grace The Soul's Response to Grace Creation Care