Author: Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863
Relevant Scripture verse: “[T]hough he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” - Philippians 2:6-7 ESV
1 My God, how wonderful thou art, thy majesty how bright!
How beautiful thy mercy seat in depths of burning light!
2 How wonderful, how beautiful the sight of thee must be -
thine endless wisdom, boundless pow'r, and awesome purity!
3 No earthly father loves like thee; no mother, e’er so mild,
bears and forbears as thou hast done with me, thy sinful child.
4 Yet I may love thee too, O Lord, almighty as thou art,
for thou hast stooped to ask of me the love of my poor heart.
5 My God, how wonderful thou art, thou everlasting friend!
On thee I stay my trusting heart till faith in vision end.
Frederick William Faber was a prolific English hymnwriter whose span of life coincided with what is called the Oxford Movement in the Church of England. This movement tried to restore a more “high church” or formal atmosphere to congregations of the Church of England and was often seen by its opponents as trying to bring Roman Catholic practices into the Church of England through the back door. The Church of England had, of course, separated from the authority of the Roman Church in the time of the Reformation with King Henry VIII’s “Act of Supremacy” in 1534. Over time, the Church of England developed its own culture, and while it retained the threefold order of bishop, priest, and deacon like the Roman Catholic Church, it took on a more “Protestant” expression in the following centuries in its rites and ceremonies. This Oxford Movement sought to instill a greater sense of the broader “catholic” tradition in the Church of England.
Faber was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church (Church of England) in 1839, but when he attempted to implement in his congregation some practices associated with the Roman Catholic Church of the time, he encountered stiff resistance from some people who had been influenced by the Methodist movement of England. Like some others influenced by the Oxford Movement, Faber eventually joined the Roman Catholic Church, and he was received as a priest in that communion in 1847.
Faber’s most well-known hymn is probably “Faith of our Fathers,” which has received wide acceptance throughout the Protestant Christian world. Few realize, however, that the original form of this hymn included a reference to allegiance to the Pope in Rome and that the “faith of our fathers” to which the hymn refers is actually that of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant churches have simply deleted that verse and kept the rest of the hymn.
Most likely, Faber’s next most famous hymn is “My God, How Wonderful Thou Art.” It is popular in many congregations across the spectrum of the Christian world, and it is commonly sung by college choirs, as in the link below. The words and tune coalesce to form a majestic hymn of praise suitable for most any occasion.
The hymn invites us to reflect on the nature of God, both His transcendence and immanence. God stands above His creation and exists in depths of burning light. In the Bible, even someone as close to God as His servant Moses could not fully see God’s glory. Therefore, Faber can only speculate about an experience of God’s direct presence: How wonderful, how beautiful the sight of thee must be - thine endless wisdom, boundless pow'r, and awesome purity!
It is common in our world for people to speak of “God.” Most of the time, however, God is described as distant and detached from the life of the world. This is nothing new. From the time of the eighteenth century, Enlightenment Rationalism downplayed if not outright rejected the importance of Christian doctrines. This attempt at a “rational faith” often called “Deism” spoke of God as creator, but the role of Jesus was reduced to little more than a moral teacher. In such a scheme, God becomes mostly inaccessible.
Yet Christians believe that God also reveals Himself to the world through the incarnation of His Son. Interestingly, Faber’s hymn makes no direct mention of Jesus Christ. Yet he clearly had the coming of Christ in mind when he wrote the following: Yet I may love thee too, O Lord, almighty as thou art, for thou hast stooped to ask of me the love of my poor heart. Our transcendent God has nonetheless a deep love for the world and has come to lift us out of our sin so that we might praise his glory.
You can access below a video of this hymn sung by the Concordia College Chapel Choir of Moorhead, Minnesota: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=my+god+how+wonderful+thou+art+concordia&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dp4VYf_DCkHk