Greetings to our beloved youth in Christ in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Great is our Lord. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired than gold ( Psalm 19: 7-10 ). Now who can appreciate this in his youth, and praise the Lord ? Such a man  is blessed.

In fact, in a wider sense, man was created to worship the Lord in view of the vacuum created by the fall of Satan (Lucifer), who was the worship leader in the presence of the Lord. Even today, the only thing God wants from us is to worship Him. Always. True worship can break all barriers, all sorrows, all enmity and prejudice and can even be a weapon to fight evil. Albert Einstein once said “everything in life is vibration”. Cymatics and divine harmonics – can alter behaviour patterns of man. Remember the worship team of Joshua with trumpets ?   Even the Jericho walls  fell !  Paul and Silas worshipped in the prison. Their chains broke  and the prison walls crash opened !

Meditating on this, I realized that every worship and praise song indeed will have a touching story behind it…. My most favourite song “ Yesu Nesikirar” ( Jesus loves) was written by a death convict, a criminal to be hanged In  Sri Lanka Prison,  who was saved by the visit of an evangelist, who met him days before the execution. This (convict) man was so moved by the love of God, even for a criminal convict  like him, and the song was born ! Today also every time I sing this song, tears roll down from my eyes ……

It was the year 1888. There was a Swedish pastor by name Carl  Boberg. It was the most beautiful period of the year in Sweden  and the lush green canopy exploded in  a colourful bloom of wild flowers! As he was returning from the afternoon service, suddenly a violent thunder storm broke. The pastor and his team ran for cover from the unexpected storm. As it had started suddenly, it also stopped after a short while abruptly. Suddenly the sky was clear again and bright sun rays beamed everywhere ! The chirping of the birds rocked the air ! The pastor went home and opened the windows :  The sea shore was serene and absorbing against the background of the church bell ringing for a funeral service. The song “ O Store Gud “ (Swedish)                 ( O mighty God) was born.

The song was circulated in a local publication and was forgotten. Few years later, Pastor Boberg was pleasantly surprised to hear the song : in the local Swedish folklore tune, sung by a worship team . Thereafter it became a regular worship song  in many Swedish churches. Year 1907 saw its popular  German version ( modified to “How great You are" ) and 1912 Russian version which spread across like wild fire in Russia including Ukraine. 

It was a British pastor Stuart Hine and his wife Edith who worked as missionaries in Ukraine (in the part of Carpathian Mountains known for its legendary scenic beauty) to hear the Russian version and deeply impressed by it. Hine wrote few paraphrases to supplement and the first two verses came into final form, 42 years after its birth. There is a moving story of this Pastor couple who went in search of the lone Christian family in  a remote village, where they heard loud prayers of  newly converted neighbours, confessing the love and grace of Jesus on the Cross, for them. The prayer was so moving that the Pastor stayed outside and remained engrossed in it. The third verse of the song was born !

The great persecution by Joseph Stalin and later World  War II saw this couple returning back to somerset (Egland) and continuing their mission with the displaced Polish community and on the end of war, in 1948 with the displaced Russians in Sussex. A moving testimony was told by one of the inmates in Sussex camp, who lost his wife while migrating and wanted to handhold her in worship of the Lord. He said it may not be possible now, but once the risen Lord takes him to heaven, he has the full hope of eventually being reunited with his wife to worship Him. The testimony was so powerful and moving : The fourth and final verse of the song was born.

61 years from its conception (1888) the final English translation was completed by Rev.Stuart Hine in 1949. The song was taken to all the refugee camps around the world. The British missionaries took the song to various colonies/former colonies of Great Britain. I read some where that the song made its way to the Unites States (USA)   by a missionary who worked in India.

A copy of the song landed in the hands of Soloist George Beverly Sea,  long associated with the great Evangelist Billy Graham. The song travelled around the world in all his crusades where millions would listen and cry. A long journey for  a song mostly forgotten by this time in its native Sweden.

The song is translated into almost all known languages of the world including many tribal languages ! Such is the grace and love of the mighty God : who chose to be born as man and bore all our diseases, sins and sorrows on the cross , for our redemption. As you are reading this, I would rather encourage you to have a revisit of the lyrics of this song to appreciate fully  the depth of each word.  

The Psalmist said in his ecstasy :

“I will extol Thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever.

2 Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.

5 I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works.

6 And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness.

7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness.  (Psalm 145: 1-7)

Amen.

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