#156 - Kyle Thompson // How Great Thou Art

We're examining five of my favorite hymns, digging into their lyrics and biblical truths while sharing the best versions of each song.

• Today's featured hymn is "How Great Thou Art," my personal favorite and arguably the greatest hymn of all time
• The hymn originated from a poem called "O Great God" written by Swedish preacher Carl Gustav Boberg after experiencing a thunderstorm
• Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill's 2011 Academy of Country Music performance stands as possibly the greatest live performance of any song
• Verse 1 celebrates God's creation and sovereignty, directly connecting to Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 8:3-4
• Verse 2 shows how nature reflects God's majesty, drawing from Job 12:7-10
• Verse 3 focuses on our redemption through Christ, echoing John 3:16
• Verse 4 anticipates Jesus's second coming, referencing 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
• The refrain "Then sings my soul" represents pure praise and worship, connecting to Psalm 145:3
• While the world obsesses over human greatness, only God is truly worthy of being called great

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The Word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for the fight.
Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Happy Wednesday y'all .
This week on the Daily Blade,we're looking at five of my
favorite hymns of all time andwe're digging into the lyrics
and the biblical truths therein.
Also, I'm giving you guys mypicks for the best versions of
each of those songs.
Now, today is a special daybecause it's a day that the Lord
has made right, but also it's aspecial day because it's my
birthday y'all.
So happy birthday me.

(00:40):
So, as is my God-given right onmy birthday, I'm going to be a
little selfish.
So before I go and eat myweight in the best banana
pudding in the world, which isactually downstairs right now
and it's being made by my wife,I need to tell y'all about my
favorite hymn, which is howGreat Thou Art.
So this hymn was derived from apoem called oh Great God, which
was written by a young Swedishpreacher named Carl Gustav

(01:02):
Boberg, and, as the story goes,he wrote the poem down after a
sudden thunderstorm and thefollowing calm.
So it actually caused Boberg toreflect on God's mighty power
and his creation.
And the best version of thissong dare I say the greatest
live performance of any songever was by Oklahoma's very own
Carrie Underwood, and Oklahoma'svery own Vince Gill, who is

(01:24):
probably the most underratedcountry music artist of all time
in my opinion, and it wasperformed during the Academy of
Country Music event that washeld in 2011.
Seriously, guys, go watch it onYouTube.
It is absolutely incredible.
If you don't tear up whilewatching it, you might be dead.
So here are the lyrics, and I'lljust read the refrain once at

(01:55):
the end oh Lord, my God, when I,in awesome wonder, consider all
the worlds, thy.
Once at the end, I hear thebrook and feel the gentle breeze
, and when I think that God, hisson, not sparing, sent him to
die, I scarce can take it inthat, on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing, he bled and diedto take away my sin.
When Christ shall come withshout of acclamation and take me

(02:18):
home, what joy shall fill myheart?
Then I shall bow in humbleadoration and there proclaim my
God, how great thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior,god to thee.
How great thou art, how greatthou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior,god to thee.
How great thou art, how greatthou art.

(02:40):
I mean, I just guys, I can'teven.
It's so stinking good, like,what an amazing psalm.
Now we don't have a lot of timeand I'm gonna, you know, I'm not
gonna talk any slower, so youguys are just gonna need to
listen a little faster.
But this hymn is absolutelychock full of biblical truth.
So, verse 1, you know we'retalking about God's creation and
sovereignty.
The lyric here O Lord, my God,when I, in awesome wonder

(03:00):
consider all the worlds thyhands have made, I mean that's
Genesis 1.1.
In the beginning God createdthe heaven and the earth.
But also Psalm 8, verses threeand four, when I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which
thou hast ordained, then we getinto verse two nature, basically
, you know, reflecting themajesty of God.
The lyric is when I look downfrom lofty mountain grandeur,

(03:21):
you have that entire verse.
I look at Job 12, verses 7through 10.
But ask now the beasts, andthey shall teach thee and I'm
reading from the King JamesVersion it seems appropriate
considering this one and thefowls of the air, and they shall
tell thee, or speak to theearth, and it shall teach thee.
And the fishes of the sea shalldeclare unto thee.
You know, this is ourredemption through Christ.
The lyric is God his son, notsparing, sent him to die,

(03:55):
obviously the most famous verseever, probably at least in
America, is John 3, 16.
For those for God so loved theworld that he gave his only
begotten son that whoeverbelieveth in him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
Then in verse four we see youknow, this is Jesus's second
coming the lyric when Christshall come with shout of
acclamation and take me home.

(04:15):
We look at first Thessalonians4, verses 16 and 17.
For the Lord himself shalldescend from heaven with a shout
, with the voice of thearchangel and with the trump of
God, and the dead in Christshall rise first.
Then we which are alive andremain shall be caught up
together with them in the cloudsto meet the Lord in the air,
and so shall we ever be with theLord.

(04:37):
And then we get to the refrain,probably the best refrain that I
can think of in music,certainly in hymns full-on
praise and worship, guys, I mean.
Then sings my soul, my Savior,god, to thee, how great thou art
.
So go to Psalm 145, verse 3,.
Great is the Lord and greatlyto be praised, and his greatness

(04:57):
is unsearchable.
So, guys, you could spend therest of the year just focusing
in on the scriptural truths inthis psalm alone and still not
get all the way through it, butI'll leave you with this.
The world is obsessed withgreatness, right?
I mean it's all over the placeLike it's the goat debates for
sports or movies or music orwhatever.
And for men, many of us haveeven fallen victim to the siren

(05:20):
song of the pursuit of personalglory.
Right, glory for our name.
But there is only one who isworthy of the title great, and
that is our God, and our soulsshould sing to him.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Thank you for listening to today's episode
Before you go.
If you want to help equip othermen for the fight, share this
podcast around and leave us afive-star rating and review.
Stay sharp.