How Great Thou Art

With one of the most well-known hymns of all time, we begin our new season by diving into the history of the creation and various translations of "O Store Gud" (O Great God) that led to what we know of today as "How Great Thou Art" by Swedish poet and preacher, Carl Gustaf Boberg. But how we decided to talk about this hymn became a story of its own. Thank you for listening and we can't wait to bring you some amazing hymns this season!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

It is not great faith you need. It is faith in a great God. N.T. Wright. This is The Bright Forever.

UNKNOWN 0:28

The Bright Forever

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Hello, and welcome to The Bright Forever, where each week we rediscover the power and richness found in some of the greatest hymns of the faith. My name is Andy P. V. House, and I am your host on this incredible journey through hymnody. We are back. It is season two. It is so good to be back here with you all on The Bright Forever. I am as terrible as ever at social media and keeping you all updated as we've been off preparing and planning for this, our second season. Wow, I can't believe I'm even saying that. We are in season two. And with that comes a ton of new episodes, but also a ton of changes as well. And since I am terrible at sharing these things on social media, you may not have heard all of the new news. First, we have a new look. We have changed our logo and our artwork for the new season. We have a new website through Podpage that gives us all sorts of fun new things we can do, including a few more interactive options. So you can be involved in the podcast as well. And we'll get to those a little bit later. And we now have the ability for you to become a subscriber to our podcast. I don't have corporate sponsors or commercials that I run on this podcast, and I kind of like it that way. This show is currently fully 100% financed by me, and so far it has been great. And the response we have received has been amazing. But we also want to be able to do more and to reach more people with this podcast. And to do that takes money. With that said, we now have the option to allow you to subscribe to Bright Forever Plus and show your support for what we are doing in a tangible way. As a subscriber, you are helping us continue to make great content and expand the reach of this podcast to an even larger audience. And as an additional bonus, every subscriber will get a shout out on this podcast just to say thank you for your support. You are truly what makes this podcast continue to reach so many hearts and lives. And if you're not ready to make a monthly commitment, but still want to give, we have an option for that too. Go to our brand new website, www.thebrightforever.com, and at the bottom left corner of the page, just click the little yellow coffee cup. It's a thing called Buy Me a Coffee, and you can give a one-time gift in whatever amount you would like it to be, starting at just$5. I may need to do some bonus stuff. Just to tell you all of the new and exciting things that we are doing and looking to do here in this podcast. If I try to do it all right now, we will run out of time and then we'll end up having a huge podcast commercial about the podcast itself and not do an actual podcast. So with that said, let's get started with our hymn for today. We are diving into what is probably the most recognized hymn in all of Well, okay, aside from Amazing Grace, which we'll get to that one eventually too. But no, I'm talking about How Great Thou Art. The hymn How Great Thou Art has become an emblem of faith and reverence for many Christians around the world. Its poetic lyrics and stirring melody have resounded with people across generations. But where did this hymn originate? For that, we have to rewind back to the late 19th century. The hymn, O Store Gud, O Great God, was written by the Swedish poet Carl Gustaf Boberg in 1885. Boberg was inspired to write the hymn after a specific experience he had had on a trip to the beautiful countryside area near Monsteres, a town on the southeast coast of Sweden. As the story goes, one summer evening in 1885, Boberg was walking home from church when a thunderstorm suddenly appeared on the horizon. As the storm rolled in, he sought shelter in a small barn. Inside the barn, he felt the profound sense of awe and reverence as he watched the storm unfold. The thunder, the lightning, the natural world's power and grandeur filled him with a deep sense of God's presence and power. Boberg was so moved by this experience that he penned the words to O Storegud as a poem expressing his feelings of awe and wonder at the beauty of creation and the greatness of God. Later, this poem was set to music, a Swedish folk tune, and is still sung to that tune we know today. The hymn gained popularity in Sweden and was eventually translated into German and then into Russian. And then let's fast forward to the mid-20th century when an English missionary named Stuart K. Hine encountered the hymn while ministering in the Ukraine. Struck by its message and melody, Hine decided to translate it into English. and added several original verses to capture the essence of the original Swedish lyrics. The English version he called How Great Thou Art. It gained significant popularity and recognition when it was introduced to a wider audience during the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades in the 1950s. The powerful combination of Hines' lyrical additions and the enduring melody captured the hearts of listeners worldwide. Here is a direct English translation that may sound a little familiar. Oh great God, when I look at the world that you have created with your word of omnipotence, I see there how your wisdom weaves the threads of life and all creatures are satisfied at your table. Then my soul bursts forth in the sound of praise. Oh, great God. Oh, great God. Now, I sometimes go back and forth as to whether I should share, like, super popular hymns or like really obscure ones or maybe just the if you grew up in church you probably heard this one at some point but you may not remember it but then once you hear it you do those those types of hymns but this season opener actually started taking shape in december of 2022 last december let me give you a little bit of backstory first I love watching nature documentaries. Well, I love documentaries in general, but I especially like them if it involves nature. And my most favorite are the natural disaster documentaries. I know that sounds weird, but give me a documentary on earthquakes or fires or tsunamis or hurricanes or volcanoes or avalanches. even sometimes man-made ones like nuclear disasters. I get wrapped up in the stories. I feel like you get the full range of human emotion as you watch. You get that full experience. There's fear, there's suspense, there's anger, there's sadness, there's worry. You see the tragedy, but more often than not, you also can see the triumph. Those who survived, they made it, they persevered. The perseverance of the human spirit and the will to keep going in the face of overwhelming circumstances is what draws me to these films. My wife, does not like, well, I won't say she doesn't like documentaries. She does. She thinks I'm a crazy loon for liking them as much as I do. And she doesn't understand why I love watching these certain types of documentaries. She especially takes issue with the fact that I watch them late at night because sometimes these are involving natural disasters and people dying. And so I typically watch them after the kids have gone to bed. which means it's later at night. And she does not want to watch documentaries like that at night because then she's going to go to bed and she's going to dream about either an earthquake or a tsunami or a volcano erupting or hurricanes or nuclear disasters. And so she does not like watching them with me. So this brings us to how this episode began taking shape in late December of last year. On December 16th of 2022, Netflix released a documentary entitled The Volcano, Rescue from Wakari. And of course, I had to watch it. The film recounts the tragic events surrounding two volcanic eruptions on New Zealand's Wakari Island. Wakari means White Island. In 2019. The film meticulously chronicles the unfolding of a tourist excursion that ultimately resulted in a volcanic eruption claiming the lives of 22 individuals. Wakari is an active stratovolcano, and it had been a popular tourist destination for decades, despite signs that it had increased activity. The tragedy unfolded on December 9th. with tourists from cruise ships and other independent tours. And it left 22 dead and 25 injured, mostly with severe burns. But I was struck by one of the stories. There was a newlywed couple named Matt and Laura Ouray from Virginia who were on their honeymoon. In an article from the Richmond Times Dispatch, Matt and Laura tell some of their story. I remember my heart just sank and so many people were taking pictures. I just freaked out, she said. Matt describes seeing, quote, a huge plume coming up and a, quote, large black cloud. He heard the guide say, not today. Not today. Run. Laura said she and her husband ran for their lives. They hid behind some rocks as they held each other's hands. He was just screaming in agony. I never heard him scream like that before. I remember he said he was sorry, she said. I remember me screaming in agony. My body was sizzling. She said, I said, I love you so much. I'm going to die today. She struggled to put her respirator on because of the force of the volcano. She was determined to hold her husband's hand. I was positive. We were going to die. And if we were going to die, I wanted to be next to him. She said tearfully. Matt wept as he recalled, checking on his wife's condition as they crouched behind the rock, both covered in ash. He said he helped her back to the boat, lifting her back to her feet after she stumbled and badly burned her right hand. We couldn't run anymore because the ash was so thick. We were walking as fast as we could back towards the boat. The badly burned couple managed to make their way from the island, but both spent weeks in hospitals. Now, nearing the end of the film, Matt said something that got me thinking. He said the eruption took two minutes. But the recovery and the consequences have taken multiple years. And when the film came out, they were still undergoing about a surgery a month. It got me kind of thinking how sin affects us in the same way. It's a momentary choice or a decision. that can sometimes take years to recover from. Mentally, physically, and spiritually. Then Laura and Matt showed us their hands and arms. And he's showing it and he looks at it and he says, I have a perfect unburnt spot That is the exact outline of where her hand was. And I realize this is in no way a perfect analogy, but it made me think that even in the midst of our sin, God's love can be seen holding onto us. Sometimes we still have the scars. But in the aftermath, we look back and can see glimpses of God's hand holding us. And in that unburnt place, that's where healing begins. Now, this is by no means a Christian film. And what I'm talking about was never discussed on it. There is at times strong language. No one talks about God's provision in the midst of tragedy. There's a lot of sadness throughout the film with little joy sometimes to be found. But then as the credits of the song begin to roll, I hear something familiar.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Paakaria mai tori pe ka ki au Tia ho mai iro to ite Hei kona au Titi roa tu hai Ora matei Hei au koe noho hai Pākārya mai Tōri pe kākiau Te āho mai I roto i te pō Hei kōnā Oh Oh Oh Consider all the worlds thy hands have made I see the stars I hear How great thou art. How great thou art. How great thou art.

UNKNOWN 22:08

Oh,

SPEAKER_00 23:39

That was Wakaria Mai, How Great Thou Art, performed by Teeks and Holly Smith from the 2019 album Offering, part of the Offering Project, who graciously gave us permission to use this recording on our podcast. And we thank them for allowing us to use it. The Offering Project is a collaboration of New Zealand's finest recording and visual artists. The Offering album is a collection of 12 gospel hymns that have provided comfort and peace for centuries. You can find out more about the Offering project at www.offering.org. As I'm listening to this song at the end credits, it reminded me of Boberg and the awe and wonder at nature's majesty and power, and yet it reminded him of God's greatness. And the same thing happened here. Billy Graham made it well-known in the U.S., but it was when Elvis recorded it that it made its way across the ocean and became well-known everywhere. in New Zealand. But what's interesting is the tune of Wakarimai is the one used for the hymn, O Storei Gud. But here's the interesting part. When I dug a little deeper, the Maori words of Wakarimai are actually a loose translation of the final verse of Abide With Me. Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. The words of the song as he begins singing, instead of, O Lord, my God, are show your cross to me. Let it shine there in the darkness. To there I will be looking. In life, in death, let me rest in thee. How great is our God. That even in the midst of overwhelming circumstances, we have a God who holds us close. It reminds me of the verses that Hein added. When I think about 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. 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 there proclaim my God, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee. How great thou art. How great thou art. Thank you for starting this new season with us. And as always, thanks for listening to this podcast. Please take a minute and visit our new and improved website at www.thebrightforever.com. From there, you can follow this podcast either through Apple or Spotify, Google, Amazon, or many other podcast platforms. Or you can take our RSS feed and plug it into anywhere that you listen to podcasts. And we always want to hear from you. There are a few new ways to do it. There's always the old school way of emailing us at podcast at the bright forever.com. You can also click the contact us tab at the top of our website and send a message through our contact form. And brand new to this season and to our new website, you can click the radio microphone in the bottom right corner and record a message of up to two minutes and let us know what you think. Who knows? Your message may even get played on an upcoming episode of the podcast. And now you can comment on each episode by going to that episode on the website and adding your comments at the bottom. And last, but certainly not least, you can always show what you think by leaving a review on our website. You can also leave a review on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on Podchaser. Those will all show up on our website. Give us all the five-star ratings you could possibly give. I don't mind. If you have a five-star rating... Go ahead and add it. I don't mind. Four star three. No, I'm just kidding. Rate us however you want to rate us. But give us a shout out and let us know how we're doing and what we're doing. Before we go, I wanted to let you all know why the launch of season two was postponed. It's been rough for my family over the last few weeks. We had strep throat go through our happy home. One person at a time. which ended up postponing the start of the podcast. It's really difficult to record when you can barely speak. But on a more serious note, I would ask that you please be praying for my wife's family. Dina's Aunt Connie passed away this last week. The shock, which has still not completely sunk in for many of us, Connie was a wonderful, sweet, kind, amazing woman who was always thinking of others first, always ready to lend support or comfort to any and everyone in need. She was ceaselessly generous to everyone. and always willing to go the extra mile for people she loved and even for total strangers. She was loved by all whose path she encountered, and she will truly be missed. Please continue to pray for healing and comfort over our family as we continue to mourn the amazing woman we have lost here on earth. Let me close us out in prayer. Lord, I thank you for a new season. I thank you for the thousands of amazing hymns that we can talk about. The content is endless. And so, Father, I thank you for just giving me the heart to do this, giving my family the heart to support it. For those who have given God and who are thinking about giving to the podcast, I just thank you, God, for everything, anything that anybody gives. It's It's more than I could ever hope for or imagine. And that people would want to give is an amazing thing. And so, God, I lift up those gifts to you. God, I thank you. I thank you for allowing me to do this. I thank you for those who are listening right now. And I just lift them up to you. I pray that, God, we will continue to speak truth into the lives of people's hearts. And, God, that they will, some who may never have known you, God, that they will, through this podcast, hear the gospel and be changed. God, I lift up my family to you. I lift up my wife's family. I pray for healing. I pray for comfort. Lord, I pray that you will be with us and give us strength and shower your grace. God, we love you. We praise you. We give you all the honor and all the glory. In your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. God bless you all. Have a great week. And I'll see you back here next week with my most popular special guest, my mother, Janet Peavyhouse. See you soon. We're out.

UNKNOWN 34:10

Thank you.