“When Sea Monsters Praise God”

              After taking some vacation time last Sunday, I return to the pulpit this Sunday (July 15th) at Christ United Methodist Church.  This weekend we continue our sermon series on the congregation’s eight favorite hymns.  Each Sunday the proclamation focuses on one these top hymns and the scripture which undergirds it.

This Sunday, we will focus on the hymn, How Great Thou Art.  For my proclamation, I have paired this hymn with Psalm 148.  In the Book of Psalms in the Bible, there are several different types of psalms for use in different situations.  This psalm is a hymn of praise, which the early Hebrews would use liturgically, in communal worship.[i]  The structure of psalms of praise is usually threefold:

1.      An opening invitation to praise God.

2.      Reasons for praising God.

3.      A recapitulation of the invitation to praise God.[ii]

Psalm 148 begins with a simple, straightforward invitation:  “Praise the Lord!”  However, the scope of the psalm’s invitation is extended beyond the expected people of Israel—or, even human persons in general.  Instead, Psalm 148 extends the scope of invitation to all of Creation, both living and non-living alike.  That is, Psalm 148 calls upon “everything that is…”—that is, everything that has being—to praise God.  This extended invitation is divided into three parts. 

The first part of this elaborated invitation focuses on praising God from the heavens by the beings and objects that inhabit the heavens.  Verses 1-6:

“Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host! 

Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens! 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created.
He established them for ever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.” 

Notice that both animate and inanimate heavenly bodies are invited to praise God.  Animate beings, such as “his angels” and “all his host” are invited to praise God.  Similarly, inanimate creation, such as sun and moon and shining stars are invited to praise God.

            When I hear the first verse of How Great Thou Art, as presented in The United Methodist Hymnal, I am reminded of Psalm 148 and its invitation for all heavenly bodies to praise God:

“O 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, the refrain:

           

“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!

In the second part of this elaborated invitation to worship, the focus of Psalm 148 shifts from the heavens, down to the earth.  Verses 7-10:

“Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command! 

Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds!” 

Again, as with the heavenly invitation in verses 1-6, the invitation to praise God is extended to both animate and inanimate Creation.  Notice how closely these verses mirror the Creation story in Genesis 1:  “sea monsters” (Gen. 1:21) “all deeps” recalls “the deep” in Genesis 1:2.  Similarly, the invitation to “fruit trees” is mirrored in Genesis 1:11, while “wild animals and all cattle, and creeping things” reflect Genesis 1:24.  Finally, “flying birds” invokes Genesis 1:21.  As with the heavenly invitation, so also the invitation for the earth includes inanimate Creation, “fire and hail, snow and frost, [and] stormy wind.” 

            This invitation to the earthly realm is also reflected in the hymn, How Great Thou Art. From verse two:

“When through the woods and forest glades I wander,

   and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

   when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

    and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze;”

Then, the refrain:

           

“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!

            In the third and final part of its extended invitation to praise God, Psalm 148 finally shifts its focus to humans.  Verses 11-12:

“Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together!” 

In these verses, the psalmist is very careful to be inclusive.  All peoples are invited to praise God.  Men and women; old and young; the powerful leaders and everyday folk, alike.  Everyone is invited to praise God.

            In its final two verses, Psalm 148 shifts to the second component in the normal structure of a hymn of praise.  In these verses, the psalmist gives reasons for praising God:

“Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven. 
He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.”

In verse 13, the psalmist urges all of Creation, including humans, to worship God because of God’s sovereignty.  God has created all that there is, both animate and inanimate life.  And, as Creator, God rules all of Creation.  In the psalmist’s vision, all of Creation praises God in its own manner; that is, its own voice.  Further, as Biblical scholar J. Clinton McCann, Jr. points out:  “Because God rules the cosmos, God’s praise is incomplete without the participation of every voice, human and nonhuman, in heaven and in earth and in all creation.”[iii]

            The third component of a hymn of praise—the recapitulation of the invitation to praise God—appears at the end of the psalm (verse 14b).  Here, the psalmist recapitulates his simple, introductory invitation to all Creation to “Praise the Lord!”

            The hymn, How Great Thou Art, originated as a poem written by the Swedish poet Carl Boberg in 1885.  In describing his inspiration for the poem, Boberg describes a summer thunderstorm which came up very quickly.  He and his companions had to hurry for shelter before the rain began.  However, the storm was short-lived and soon the sky began to clear.  Now, safely at his home, Boberg opened a window facing towards the sea.  From the open window, he heard birds in the forest and church bells ringing in the distance.  And, this was the inspiration for his poem.  Several years later, the poem was set to an old Swedish folk tune.

            Over the years, new verses were added by others and the hymn evolved.  In The United Methodist Hymnal, verses 3 and 4 were added by the British Methodist missionary, Stuart K. Hine. 

He wrote verse 3, after visiting a Ukrainian village.  While in the village, Hine was going to visit the home of a Protestant Christian couple, Dimitri and Lyudmila.  As he approached the house, they heard Lyudmila reading from the Gospel of John to a house full of visitors.  Many of the visitors were dramatically moved by the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and the promise of forgiveness.  So, in response to the reading, these visitors began to verbally repent from their sins.  Not wanting to interrupt, Hine stood outside the house.  But, as he waited, Hine wrote down the phrases which he heard the penitents uttering.  These phrases became the third verse.

“And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,

  sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;

  that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

  he bled and died to take away my sin;  (Refrain)”

            The fourth verse was inspired by another experience which Stuart K. Hine had.  Towards the end of World War II, he visited a Russian refugee camp in Sussex, England.  In the camp, he met a man who had been separated from his wife.  The man explained that before their separation, his wife had been a Christian, but he himself had not.  After the separation, the man experienced a conversion to Christianity.  Now, he longed to be re-united with his wife, so that he could share his newfound faith with her.  However, he doubted that he would ever see his wife again.  So, instead, he looked forward to that time when they would be re-united in heaven and share eternal life together.  After hearing his story, Hine penned verse 4:

“When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

   and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

   Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

   and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!  (Refrain)”

            While the verses added by Stuart K. Hine and others are important, the hymn How Great Thou Art is one of my favorites because of Carl Boberg’s original words and the way they mirror and promote the expanded invitation from Psalm 148 for all of Creation—both animate and inanimate—to praise God.  (Similar invitations are included in Psalms 8, 96, 98, and 104. 

By expanding the invitation to all of Creation to praise God, Psalm 148 and the hymn, How Great Thou Art, transform our attitude towards the rest of Creation.  Rather than seeing the rest of Creation as belonging to humans for the taking, this broadened invitation reminds us that all of Creation belongs to God who is sovereign and that all of Creation joins humans in praising God in their own voices.

            Psalm 148 and How Great Thou Art  have the effect of elevating the rest of Creation to the same level as human persons in the sight of God.  All of us are God’s good creations and our praise for God is incomplete when the rest of Creation cannot join with us. 

There have been times in history when Christians have forgotten this important insight from the psalms.  Some critics actually hold Christianity partly responsible for the environmental degradation which has occurred since the Industrial Revolution.  In his famous essay, Lynn White, Jr., who was a devout Presbyterian himself, wrote that “Christianity bears a huge burden of guilt” for the present ecological damage[iv] because Christian scripture and tradition place humans at the center of creation and give them dominance.

While White’s observation may be historically valid, it clearly comes from a misreading of scripture, such as Psalm 148, as well as other passages.  Interestingly, another verse, penned by the British missionary, Stuart Hine, addresses White’s concern.  Although the verse was not included in The United Methodist Hymnal, it probably should have been:

“O when I see ungrateful man defiling
This bounteous earth, God's gifts so good and great;
In foolish pride, God's holy Name reviling,
And yet, in grace, His wrath and judgment wait.

Then, the refrain:

           

“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!”

If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to come and join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, July 15th.  Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Our two traditional Worship Services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday morning. 

Come, join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

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[i] In addition to hymns, or songs, of praise, there are other categories of psalms, such as psalms of lament, royal psalms, and prophetic exhortation psalms.

[ii] J. Clinton McCann, Jr., Commentary on the Book of Psalms in the New Interpreter’s Bible, vol 4, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2002), CD-ROM Edition.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Lynn White, Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science 155 (10 March 1967): 1203-1207; reprinted in Louis P. Pojman, ed., Environmental Ethics, Readings in Theory and Application, 2d ed., (Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998), 19.