Today we ended our songs by singing "How Great Thou Art". This particular hymn has been particularly meaningful to me for years - decades even.
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 power throughout the universe displayed.
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.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
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.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
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 then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Lyrics taken from this page
I'm not positive that my memory is accurate, but I believe that I remember singing this with a group of children in a Vacation Bible School when I was four and living in Seoul, Korea in 1962. I think my mom was playing the piano, and that most of the children were much older than me. I remember the room being cold, but my heart almost lifting out of my chest as I sang "Then sings my soul, my Saviour, God to Thee, How Great Thou Art, how great Thou art."
I don't think I've ever heard that song without singing along, without remembering the first time I praised God in a personally meaningful way, and without feeling once again that I know God is great, powerful, loving and good. Life might be hard, I might not be able to articulate my beliefs about God in a coherent way, but my soul can sing.
Last Sabbath afternoon I headed out to the mountains - to breathe, to recharge after a very stressful week, to celebrate the order I had made from the chaos of my little world - and my soul sang. The mountains, the trees, the quiet, and the time to reflect all combined so that I could remember that God is great, that He made lofty mountains, carried my burdens on the cross, and is coming back for me. I did indeed bow, in humble adoration.
