Welcome to the “Front-Porch.”
There is so much more to be said about God’s greatness than what we can say in one short sitting. But I never go very long between writings that I want to revisit this theme and, in particular, this song.
It may be the greatest song ever written – ‘How Great Thou Art.’ If not, it’s on that top shelf with the best of the best.
The writer of “How Great Thou Art” understood something about God’s glory and majesty. He had experienced wonders in God’s handiwork that made him stop right where he was and give God the glory. You might think he stood and looked out over the Grand Canyon – ah, from high up there you can sing “Then sings my soul my Savior God to thee” with vigor, can’t you! – or up high on the Smoky Mountains looking deep down into the foothills with the fall leaves shifting from color to color and the cool running Pigeon River churning confidently through it.
Carl Bobert, the Swedish preacher who penned these words in 1886, likely never saw either of those wonders, although he would have plenty of his own to admire in the beautiful landscapes of Sweden. Many scenes there display the glories of God and would cause him to sing, and write:
“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 pow’r throughout the universe displayed.”
The wonder we have of God – as with the song poet here – seems to come in stages.
First, we wonder at God’s greatness, marveling with all that we have, then we see all that He has made in its glory, then we hear the resounding power of the rolling thunder. Our thoughts, our eyes, our ears all taking in God’s glory.
But there’s something still missing, some sense we possess that we have not yet engaged in our wonder and worship of God – but the writer will not leave it that way for long. As we come to the chorus’ crescendo, he takes the wonder of his soul to new heights, writing,
“Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; how great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; how great Thou art, how great Thou art!”
There we go to the depths of our being, down into our very soul. Our wonder looks up to the heights while our emotions reach down to the depths.
Our whole being is overwhelmed with God’s glory, as we proclaim from deep in our souls, ‘How great Thou art.’
A single journey through that glad, triumphant refrain is not enough, for we must echo it, its ascending crescendo taking it to even greater heights than before. We record the moment when we feel too overwhelmed to do anything but sing:
“Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; how great Thou art, how great Thou art!”
Then sings. It is a moment of triumph.
We sing it today, and tomorrow, and every day that we live – we sing the glory of our Savior and the power of our God. We acknowledge His greatness in our minds, marvel at it with our eyes, wonder at it with our ears – then sing it, proclaim it, with our voices, with all that we have – and all that we are – deep down in our souls.
Then sings my soul!
We sing it as its glad refrain takes us all the way home. And in a better place, with a better voice, we’ll sing again with that grand introduction, “O Lord, my God!”
None is greater.
Coach Steven Ray Bowen served as a teacher and basketball coach at Red Oak High from 1998-2012 and recently came out of retirement twice for teaching tours at Ferris and Waxahachie High Schools. He and his wife Marilyn (the “amazin’ blonde”) have slowed down some of their travels and reconvened in their evangelistic work with the Church of Christ of Red Oak at Uhl/Ovilla Roads, in addition to Coach’s work as a writer and author, including the working to publish “Crossing The Georgia Line” that ran in the Ellis County Press. Call or text (972) 824-5197, email coachbowen1984@gmail.com, and see frontporchgospel.com.