I have a confession to make. I am a shameless music lover.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a huge confession. But this one might be a shocker. I’m a 20-something that absolutely loves traditional hymns. Not what you were expecting, right? Well I am. I always have been, really. There’s just something about the tradition behind them, about the fact that they have been sung for decades and centuries by more people than anyone can possibly fathom. It warms my heart and as soon as I hear the music for them start, I instantly feel closer to God.
That is never more true than when I hear someone start playing How Great is Our God. It’s a song that praises all the beauty and wonder that God’s created from the very first line. “Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made.” It’s everything that I love most about old hymns. They don’t consider what God can do for them. They aren’t singing to find themselves. But they’re praising God. They’re crying out to Him to tell Him just how amazing he is.
I think this is an area a lot of people don’t think about much. They go to church and they sing along with the praise band. They sometimes close their eyes, or lift their hands to praise him, but past that, they don’t consider just how uplifting praising God can be. Nor do they realize that it’s not just done through song. You can praise God in everything you do, everywhere you go, whether you’re singing or not.
For a long time, I thought praise only happened in the worship center of my church. I didn’t think about it after the songs stopped and the pastor started speaking. It wasn’t something that connected in my mind. I knew singing was worship and praise, but I didn’t know anything else was. I wasn’t consciously aware of the fact that I could sit out along the shore of the river and look out at God’s creation and praise him for it simply in just how I was marveling at it.
To this day, praising God in everything I do is a struggle for me. Not because I don’t think He deserves all the praise and glory. Not because I actively avoid praising him, even in my darkest times. And especially not because I don’t always get to church on Sunday, anymore. I struggle with it because it isn’t something I think about on a regular basis. I sit in my car and listen to my Christian radio station. I’m sitting here typing this, listening to my Christian music. I walk around and sing my Christian songs all day long, but that doesn’t mean I’m putting thought into them. I rarely sit down, outside of church, and think about the lyrics that are coming at me, that I’m singing along with. It’s something I’m working on, and what a better way to start that than singing along with Wade Bowen as he fills my ears with my favorite hymn of all time? Trick question. There isn’t a better way.
Just to cap off this post, I’m going to go ahead and add the lyrics. Read over them, take them in, and use them as a reminder to praise the God of all creation, the God who deserves your attention and focus, your praise, and all the glory, all the time.
Oh, 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 savior God to thee.
How great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.
How great thou art, how great thou art?
When Christ shall come with shouts of acclimation
And lead 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 savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul my savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a huge confession. But this one might be a shocker. I’m a 20-something that absolutely loves traditional hymns. Not what you were expecting, right? Well I am. I always have been, really. There’s just something about the tradition behind them, about the fact that they have been sung for decades and centuries by more people than anyone can possibly fathom. It warms my heart and as soon as I hear the music for them start, I instantly feel closer to God.
That is never more true than when I hear someone start playing How Great is Our God. It’s a song that praises all the beauty and wonder that God’s created from the very first line. “Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made.” It’s everything that I love most about old hymns. They don’t consider what God can do for them. They aren’t singing to find themselves. But they’re praising God. They’re crying out to Him to tell Him just how amazing he is.
I think this is an area a lot of people don’t think about much. They go to church and they sing along with the praise band. They sometimes close their eyes, or lift their hands to praise him, but past that, they don’t consider just how uplifting praising God can be. Nor do they realize that it’s not just done through song. You can praise God in everything you do, everywhere you go, whether you’re singing or not.
For a long time, I thought praise only happened in the worship center of my church. I didn’t think about it after the songs stopped and the pastor started speaking. It wasn’t something that connected in my mind. I knew singing was worship and praise, but I didn’t know anything else was. I wasn’t consciously aware of the fact that I could sit out along the shore of the river and look out at God’s creation and praise him for it simply in just how I was marveling at it.
To this day, praising God in everything I do is a struggle for me. Not because I don’t think He deserves all the praise and glory. Not because I actively avoid praising him, even in my darkest times. And especially not because I don’t always get to church on Sunday, anymore. I struggle with it because it isn’t something I think about on a regular basis. I sit in my car and listen to my Christian radio station. I’m sitting here typing this, listening to my Christian music. I walk around and sing my Christian songs all day long, but that doesn’t mean I’m putting thought into them. I rarely sit down, outside of church, and think about the lyrics that are coming at me, that I’m singing along with. It’s something I’m working on, and what a better way to start that than singing along with Wade Bowen as he fills my ears with my favorite hymn of all time? Trick question. There isn’t a better way.
Just to cap off this post, I’m going to go ahead and add the lyrics. Read over them, take them in, and use them as a reminder to praise the God of all creation, the God who deserves your attention and focus, your praise, and all the glory, all the time.
Oh, 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 savior God to thee.
How great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.
How great thou art, how great thou art?
When Christ shall come with shouts of acclimation
And lead 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 savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul my savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.
How great thou art! How great thou art!
How great thou art! How great thou art!