In Psalm 90:8 we read that God is
God today… “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the
light of your presence.”
God is God today, just as he has
been God in our past. God is the God of the Present Time… 2015 will be just as
much God’s possession as any of the years prior to it. The present (or now) is
the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first
time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation
(predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is a period of time between the past and
the future. God is God of the time in your life between your past and your
future.
So, how do you and I make His
presence real in the present? How do we see the truth that God is in the here
and now and make it relevant for our lives? I think of Carl Boberg .
Here is a man struggling much like
us in life to find God in the present time. Mr Boberg, relates that he had been
invited, with other men, to a meeting of women who came together to sew for the
benefit of missions and there was probably food involved. It was a beautiful
day. All nature was arrayed in its summer finery. Both young and old enjoyed
the hospitality of the home and roaming about the large estate.
Presently a storm cloud was seen
above the horizon and before long the sky was overcast, lightning flashed
across the dark heaven and a downpour drove the visitors under cover. Soon the
rain stopped, however, and on the sky was seen a bow of promise…the rainbow.
From a church across the bay, where a funeral was in progress, the bells pealed
forth their doleful cadence.
Enraptured with the wonders of it
all, Boberg that evening gave expression to his feelings in the writing of the
poem O Store Gud! nine stanzas long. It was first published in a couple of
periodicals and then apparently forgotten. Several years later, he attended a
meeting in the Province of Varmland and was surprised to hear the congregation
sing his poem to the tune of an old Swedish melody…it was translated into
English and we know it as “How Great Thou Art.” Carl Boberg was born in 1859
and died in 1940. He lived through the time leading to two world wars and a
great devastation, recessions, depressions, and revolution. He never forgot the
reality that God is God of the here and now because he took the time to
recognize the power of God around him … these are the words:
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the
works Thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy power
throughout the universe displayed:
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.
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:
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home—what joy shall fill
my heart!
Then shall I bow in humble adoration, And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Your wonder, your amazement, your
true gaze into the reality of God in your life, defines how present God is in
your present. Psalm 90:14 states: “Satisfy us in the morning with your
unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
God was God … God is God … God will
be continue to be God! You know I love ya, Don
1 comment:
I have been searching for the written music to the "old Swedish melody" that O Store Gud was sung to. Do you have any idea where that might be found? Or was it never written down?
Thank you,
Toni
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