O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art!

This great hymn came 1st in the top ten hymns chosen by tens of thousands and sung recently by 5000 in the Albert Hall in BBC Songs of Praise. With orchestra and choirs and delightful introductions by Aled Jones and Pam Rhodes, the programme was a healthy example of beauty and purity, instead of the unhealthy, ugly and impure productions too often dished up on TV.

This hymn, ‘How Great Thou Art!’, was written by Rev. Carl Boberg, a Swedish evangelical preacher, about 1885. His inspiration came when caught at mid-day in a thunderstorm. The awesome flashes of fork lightning were followed by brilliant sunshine and a rainbow, then the birds were ‘singing sweetly in the trees’. Carl set his hymn to a Swedish folk melody, then in 1927 it was translated into English by two missionaries, Mr and Mrs Stuart Hine who were working in the Ukraine. They learnt the hymn from a Russian hymnbook and published it in 1949. It quickly became a favourite in the Billy Graham crusades and spread world-wide. After verses 1 and 2 about the creation, Carl writes about the cross.

And when I think 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.

Later Stuart added this triumphant final verse:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Stuart Hines, ‘went home’ in 1989 aged 90!