Awesome God
by Rich Mullins
Theology & Meaning
Rich Mullins wrote Awesome God as a declarative meditation on divine power — the God who thunders, who judges, who reigns, whose name is holy. The word 'awesome' is used here in its original sense — not casual admiration but genuine awe before a power that transcends human understanding. The Old Testament imagery of thunder, lightning, and sovereign judgment gives the song a theological weight that prevents God from being reduced to a comfortable companion. This is the God of Deuteronomy 10:17, 'the great God, mighty and awesome,' whose awesomeness is the ground of both reverence and trust.
Worship Leadership Tips
Awesome God became one of the defining worship songs of Christian summer camp culture in the 1990s and retains strong congregational familiarity across multiple generations. Its continued value is not nostalgia but genuine theological content — declaring the majesty and power of God is a practice that every generation needs, and Rich Mullins gave it a remarkably accessible vehicle. Use it in series on the character of God, in outdoor worship settings, or whenever you want to recover a sense of the awesomeness that polite contemporary worship sometimes softens.
Arrangement Tips
The original recording is mid-tempo and driving — a far cry from the frantic tempo some youth groups adopted. Keep it confident and deliberate; the power of the lyric does not need musical freneticism to land. Electric guitar with some grit, piano, and a solid rhythm section do the job. Many contemporary arrangements drop to a half-time feel in the verse before the full beat hits in the chorus — that pattern is effective and congregations respond to it well. Do not rush; let the weight of the words do their work.
Scripture References
- Deuteronomy 10:17
- Nehemiah 9:32
- Psalm 66:3-5
- Revelation 4:8-11