HOW GREAT THOU ART

For today's editorial thoughts I'm going to revert to a sphere of inspiration that has served me well on several occasions in the past. And, since many of you have mentioned that you like editorials based upon this particular realm of thought, we're going to look at some lessons inspired by some of our old hymns.
You know, if you really pay attention to the words of our hymns you'll come to realize that a lot of them came to be written because of some of the adversities and tragedies of life. I don't think it's much of a secret to anyone that we all suffer bad things as we go through our lives in this plane. Good old Job told us as much in Job 14:1 where he said, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of troubles." In case you have trouble understanding who fits Job's category - it's everyone on earth!
All of the songs that we're going to mention here today have something in their words that speak to the dark times of a person's life and yet also within them is seen hope and reverence for God rather than defeat and condemnation for those times. Sort of like we see in our first song, one very familiar to most of you:  "HOW GREAT THOU ART."
This hymn was originally written in Swedish in the 1800's and was translated into several languages, including German and Russian. It was an English missionary, Stuart K. Hine, working in the Ukraine who translated the song into English. In its original form it only consisted of three verses.
It's first inspiration came from the writer's witnessing of the beauty of the earth and the magnificent power of God seen during and following a thunderstorm. This reminds us of something that David said in Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy work." I think that all of us who have witnessed great storms with their accompanying thunder and lightning, and then the beauty of a rainbow touching a sparkling and clean earth can easily relate to what the writer is saying.
It was Mr. Hine who added the fourth and final verse to this hymn in 1948, just a few years after World War II. He said that his inspiration for the words of the last verse was the plight of the refugees from the various European countries who had fled to England for safety. Although they were safe in England and were well taken care of, the one thing they kept asking was; "When are we going home?"
Isn't that a great question for all of us? We know that someday our journey through this earthly life will end and we'll "go home." I think that at that time is when we will truly and fully understand the power, might and glory of God because it will not be supposition on our part as to how magnificent He is, but like Paul said, we'll see "face to face." Paul also told us that, at that time, "...every knee shall bow to me..." (Rom. 14:10-11) and I have no trouble relating that to the words of verse four where it reads: "And I shall bow in humble adoration, And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art."

As to hymns brought about by adversity, probably the best known one is Amazing Grace, written by John Newton, a slave-trader and a ship's captain. I won't spend time on this hymn because it's story is so well known. Suffice it to say that I simply mention it as an example of a hymn born out of adversity.
We could also look at many of the songs/hymns written by Fanny J. Crosby who was blind from shortly after birth. We tend to think about how tragic her life was, not being able to see, but if you read the words of her songs you don't see her bemoaning her fate. Rather you see someone praising God for all His blessings in songs such as: Blessed Assurance, To God Be The Glory and Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior.
She once told someone that, had she been able to make one petition at the time of her birth, it would have been "that I should be born blind." That statement sure seems hard for me to understand but, do you know why she said that? She answered that question by her next statement wherein she stated: "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior." Blind? Only in that her eyes did not work, but I daresay that she "saw" better than most of us ever will.
My final hymn today was written by Mr. Horatio G. Spafford and if ever a heart was poured out in a song it is this one: "It Is Well With My Soul." And, if ever a song was born in adversity and tragedy, this one was. And yet, does he blame God for all the terrible things that had befallen him during his life? Absolutely not! Rather, his soul cries out "Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord."
Well, let's just look for a moment at what tragedies had "befallen" him in his life. Mr. Spafford was an attorney in Chicago and quite successful at it. He had made a considerable fortune in the real estate market, only to see most of it destroyed in the great Chicago fire of 1871. I think that all of us here in Southern California can relate to the loss of everything to fire. What a tragedy.
But, that wasn't the only tragedy suffered by Mr. Spafford in 1871. About the same time as the fire and his material loss, his little son died of scarlet fever. Talk about compounding tragedies. But, that wasn't the end of his tragedies. Two years later, he sent his wife and four daughters to England on an ocean vessel, intending to follow them shortly.
In November of 1873 the ocean liner carrying his family struck another ship and sank very rapidly. Only his wife survived the collision and sinking and was rescued by another ship. She was taken to Wales where she sent the following cable to her husband: "Survived. Alone." What a tremendous story is contained in those two little words. Can you imagine how he must have felt upon receiving it? Can you imagine how you would have felt? Can you imagine how Mrs. Spafford must have been feeling? I seriously doubt that we can.
He immediately boarded a ship in order to rejoin his wife and in December, 1873 he was told by the Captain of his ship that, as best it could be determined, they were now at the spot where the earlier tragedy had occurred and where his four daughters had perished. Upon being informed of this, Mr. Spafford returned to his cabin, took pen in hand and let the words of his heart flow out onto paper. Those words, written at that moment of time, are the words of this hymn: "It Is Well With My Soul."
Ron Covey

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