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A Song That Stayed With Her

“AT SCHOOL I sang a hymn with the words, ‘the great Jehovah enthroned in his glory.’ I often wondered, ‘Who is this Jehovah?’”

That remark from Gwen Gooch, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and whose life story was published in The Watchtower, struck a chord with at least one reader.a Vera, from Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., recalls, “I had the same experience in high school.”

After hearing a certain song, Vera, much like Gwen, was profoundly curious as to who this Jehovah might be. Vera’s curiosity was satisfied back in 1949 when her brother first told her about Jehovah, the personal name of God in the Bible.

Vera has been one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for about half a century now. But she never forgot that hymn from her high school days. “For years,” she says, “I have tried to locate the source.” Finally, with the help of a music store, she met with success. The song is from an 1825 composition by Franz Schubert. The words that accompany the music do indeed praise Jehovah. For example, among the lyrics are the following:

“Great is Jehovah, the Lord! for Heaven and Earth proclaim his wondrous pow’r. . . . You hear it in wild, raging storm, in the roar of the stream’s thundering call . . . You hear it in the murmurs of woodlands and forests, see it in the waving of golden corn; in sweet-scented flowers’ brilliant array, in stars that fill all the blue skies of Heaven . . . Fearful sounds His thunder’s report, and flames from His lightnings wildly dart through the sky. But greater by far your beating heart still proclaims Jehovah’s pow’r, . . . the everlasting Lord God. Look to Him on High and hope for grace and for mercy. . . . Great is Jehovah, the Lord!”

Vera notes: “I have at times used the lyrics of this song to show people that in the 1800’s there were those who knew God’s name and praised him also.” The truth is that from earliest times men and women of faith have been moved to praise Jehovah with songs. It is a practice that will continue forever, for there is no end of reasons to praise the Creator of heaven and earth.

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[Picture on page 25]

Vera