Let’s talk about music, songs, hymns. They are integral to one’s faith expression. Martin Luther, who composed a hymn or two himself, said this about music: “I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God. Music drives away the devil and makes people happy; they forget all wrath, uncharity, arrogance, and the like. Next after theology I give music the greatest honor…Experience proves that next to the Word of God only music deserves to be extolled as the governess of the feelings of the human heart.”

Singing a beloved hymn. Listening to an awesome choir. Marveling at the tones of a pipe organ. Smiling as young voices belt out a camp song. Music inspires. It enhances our faith. Sometimes the stories behind songs can be just as inspiring as the words and melodies.

Almost every Christian, regardless of church affiliation, knows “Amazing Grace”. What is the story behind the song? Its author, John Newton, participated in the slave trade for the British in the mid 1700’s. One night as he was steering his ship through a fierce thunderstorm, he prayed to God for safe passage. Later he reflected upon the experience and attributed his safety to God’s mercy. Thus began a journey away from transporting slaves to a deepening faith and ministry in the Anglican church.

John Newton penned the words of “Amazing Grace” for a New Year’s Day sermon in 1773. Based on Chronicles 17:16-17, the song speaks of God’s unconditional love, another name for grace. God finds the lost. God forgives the sinner. God loves the weary. “Grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home” (verse 3). It is nothing less than amazing!

Another well-known hymn is “How Great Thou Art.” This time the story includes different parts of the world as well as various individuals. Its melody is that of an old Swedish folk song. Swedish minister Carl Boberg wrote the original words as a poem in 1885. Later someone else put it to the folk melody. An English missionary in Russia, Stuart Hine, expanded the words, especially noting the beauty and forest creatures of the Carpathian Mountains.

Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard “How Great Thou Art” being sung at a revival in Assam, India. He brought it back to the U.S. for inclusion in his meetings. Music publisher Tim Spencer heard it; he promptly copyrighted and recorded it. That’s not the end of the story, however. In 1954 at a Billy Graham Crusade, someone gave singer George Beverly Shea a copy of the song. The crusade began using it the next year in Toronto. One report noted that at the 1957 New York Crusade, “How Great Thou Art” was sung 99 times by Shea and the crusade choir.

“O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made…How great thou art, How great thou art.”