Then My Soul Bursts Forth into Praise

O great God, when I behold that world

You have created with your omnipotent word,

How your wisdom guides the threads of life,

And all beings are fed at your table:

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

When I consider the high wonders of heaven,

Where golden vessels plow the ether blue,

And sun and moon measure the moments of time

And alternate, as two bells go:

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

When I hear the voice of thunder in the storm roaring

And the blades of lightning run out of the sky,

When the cold, fresh winds of the rain whistle

And the bow of promise shines in my sight,

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

When the summer wind blows over the fields,

When flowers scent the spring’s shore,

When thrushes trill in the green tents

From the silent, dark edge of the pine forest:

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

Then my soul bursts forth into praise!

O great God, O great God!

— Carl Boberg, (1885) A poem titled “O Store Gud” (O Great God),was later adapted into the famous Christian hymn “How Great Thou Art”. The words were inspired by a powerful thunderstorm and the calm, peaceful natural scene that followed, including a thrush singing in the woods. The poem was eventually paired with an old Swedish folk tune and became a popular hymn sung worldwide, especially after being translated into English by Stuart K. Hine in 1931 and popularized during the Billy Graham crusades.