Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday's Song.

Have a favorite worship song-new or old-
that you'd like to share? Have a story to go along with why
it's so special to you? Tell me what song moves you and
why-leave me a comment or, if you want to blog about it,
a link to your blog!

Sorry this post is so late in the day!
My song this week is How Great Thou Art.

My Papaw was one of my most favorite people on this
earth. He was a wonderful man, but not a church going one.
He had a heart attack on April 1, 1990 while the rest of us
were at church. I was the one who found him. I was crushed,
but even more than the pain of losing him was the pain of not
knowing if he was saved-if I'd ever see him again.

After he died, Memaw told me this was his favorite hymn.
This caught me by surprise because, like I said, he wasn't
a church goer. I loved this song before that, but since then,
it means so much more because it means that maybe, just
maybe, he knew my God. And if he knew God, then maybe
I'll see him again one day.

A friend said to me that we never know a person's heart-only
God does. We never know what happens in the last moments
of a person's life. While I won't know if he is in Heaven until I
get there myself, I take some comfort in this.

How Great Thou Art.


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

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
(Repeat Refrain.)

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:
(Repeat Refrain.)

When Christ shall come with shouts 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!
(Repeat Refrain.)

Wanna listen?
The first link is Carrie Underwood for you more contemporary
friends. The second is the incomparable Mrs. Sandy Patti. Both
are beautiful and quite moving.

Wikipedia has a detailed history of this song-and it's a
LONG history! It's actually a pretty interesting read, if
you've got the time. This is the introductory paragraph;

"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based
on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940)
in Sweden in 1885. The melody is a Swedish folk song. It was
translated into English by Stuart K. Hine, who also added two
original verses of his own composition. It was popularized by
crusades.[1] It was voted the United Kingdom's favourite hymn
by BBC's Songs of Praise.[2] "How Great Thou Art" was ranked
second (after "Amazing Grace") on a list of the favorite hymns
all time in a survey by Today's Christian magazine in 2001.[3]

Hope you had a blessed Sunday!
TTFN,

4 comments:

Foursons said...

That's a really tough position to be in. I too questioned my father's beliefs before and after he passed away. I prayed for a clear answer from God about my father's beliefs before he died and I got it. I have full confidence that my dad is in heaven and I will someday see him again.

christy rose said...

How sweet that God let you in on an inside secret in your Grampa's heart by finding out that this was his favorite hymn. Things like that really touch our hearts in so many ways.
I love this song too. I like both versions. But I love Carrie Underwood's voice and the annointing on it as well. Thanks for sharing this today.
Christy

Leigh said...

all I can say is WOW!! This song and "amazing grace" are my 2 FAV-O-RITE.. songs.. I can't sing either of them.. because I start crying.. yes I'm crazy. but they are such moving songs.. we had a top 13 songs of our church that the congregation wrote in what their favorite songs were.. we could only write three and with no multiple choice answers.. amazing grace was our number 1 song.. today was the day we found out what the #1 song was.. and that was the ONLY song that was sung during the service this morning.. several different people sang it different ways.. THanks for sharing your song!!

He & Me + 3 said...

I do love that song. I grew up listening to my mom and her brothers sing it in church. Beautiful. In Fact, we went to the Nursing Home tonight with our church to sing to the elderly and this is one of the many old hymns and songs we sang. I just close my eyes whenever I hear it. So awesome!