God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines, of never-failing skill;
He fashions up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds that you much dread,
Are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head.
That is several verses of a hymn written by William Cowper in 1773. Cowper was a poet who suffered from extreme bouts of depression and mental illness. He was institutionalized for over a year after a suicide attempt due to his fear of being examined for a position with the House of Lords. After he was released, he found lodging with a Reverend Morley Unwin, an evangelical preacher, and his family. After Reverend Unwin was killed in a riding accident in 1767, the Unwin family and Cowper moved to Olney where he became acquainted with John Newton, who wrote the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” The two became friends even though they were very different personalities. Newton convinced Cowper to collaborate with him on writing hymns for a hymn book he wanted to publish. While Cowper had written poetry all his life, the two years he worked with Newton were his primary time of hymn writing. Unfortunately his mental health declined again and he didn’t continue working with Newton. Newton, however, finished the project and published Olney Hymns in 1779 with 67 hymns written by Cowper and 280 written by Newton.
One of Cowper’s hymns was the song we now know as “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” In the Olney Hymns, the song was titled “Light Shining Out of Darkness.” That perhaps described Cowper’s feelings as he wrote the words. There is a story told about the writing of this song which lacks any factual evidence. The story says that Cowper once again planned to commit suicide by drowning himself, but that the fog was either too dense for the cab driver to find his way to the river or that the driver intentionally didn’t take Cowper to the river. At any rate, after driving a while, he dropped Cowper off where Cowper was surprised to find he was back at his own lodgings. Whether that is a true story or not, that being lost in a fog could represent Cowper’s mental state whenever he was suffering from depresssion.
After a year, he did recover from that episode of depression but no longer felt inspired to write hymns.
Most of us have heard people say “God moves in mysterious ways” to accomplish his aims. Perhaps we’ve said it ourselves. Those words aren’t in the Bible, but you can see their truth in many of the Bible stories. Sometimes we merely blame those mysterious ways on circumstances. A friend and a preacher I knew for many years always said he didn’t believe in circumstances. He believed in the Lord helping us in all those unexpected, unexplainable ways.
So, when I was writing Mira’s story and pushing her toward Sourwood Mountain when that seemed the last place she would consider going and marrying would be the last thing she would consider doing, I thought of the Lord’s mysterious ways to accomplish His wonders by sometimes blocking some paths for us while opening others. That happened with Mira and made that old hymn a perfect last sentence in my story.
At the time, I didn’t know anything about the hymn’s author. I was only pleased to come across the beautiful words of his hymn when I was looking for the ending I needed. Even though, William Cowper, may have struggled to embrace the Lord’s love and help, he did let the Lord use him to pen those words that all these years later can still inspire and comfort others.
Do you find the words of old hymns inspiring?
Comments 18
Lora Bergren comments, hymns are Very comforting, especially today,.when the lyrics are repeated several times. The lyrics to.Peace in the Valley came to mind…
“there’ll be no sadness nor sorrow I see….
Blessings on your ministry Anne
Author
That is a beautiful hymn, Lora, and one that has brought that comforting peace you speak of in your comments. Hymns and spiritual songs can be a worship experience that can excite or calm or perhaps both.
I can still hear my Mom singing all of these old hymns, Her favorite was Trust and Obey, and that is how she lived.
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We still sing “Trust and Obey” at our church, Donna. It’s certainly has words that can keep our feet on the right paths of following the Lord. My mom sang a lot of the old hymns while she was working in the kitchen. That’s a sweet memory for me. It is good to have good mothers.
I LOVE the old hymns!! The new stuff just isn’t as timeless as the old hymns, in my opinion. I still sing them sometimes!
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I’m with you, Trudy, on that. I do think the old hymns are timeless and the words so meaningful. They can also open your eyes to passages in the Bible that have inspired the hymns and help you see those passages in a new light, perhaps.
Old hymns are the best…I find myself reciting them at night when I can’t fall asleep..I was in choir all through grade school and big Christmas pagents..my classmates that are still alive fb me the old lyrics …I’ve even found adult coloring books with religious songs and pictures very uplifting. I feel sorry for folks who don’t have this in their lives.
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I do think the congregations that never sing any of the old hymns do miss out , Toni, although I’m sure they would think my church is missing out by not singing the newer worship style songs. There is good in both, but the old hymns have such meaningful words. I guess that’s the writer in me, loving the words.
I had never heard that hymn before, so I found it on YouTube. What a beautiful song. I find that as I get older, I appreciate the old hymns more and more. “Blessed Assurance” has always been a favorite of mine.
Author
To be honest, I’d never heard it before either, Tammy, when I found it online for my book. Sometimes things just fall into place when you are searching for something online. We sing “Blessed Assurance” at our little country church all the time since we still sing the old hymns there.
I have loved Amazing Grace for a long time. It was my Great-Grammys favorite and some weekends I would spend the night with her and on Sunday mornings would listen to that and other hymns together once she was no longer able to go to church. I have a hymns CD by Joey and Rory Feek that I listen to often especially if I am home alone and cleaning. It takes my mind off the work and is a way to worship the Lord for all He gives us.
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Those good old hymns can put a person in a worshipping mood, Hope. I’m glad you were able to listen to them with your great grandmother when she couldn’t go to church. I know you were a blessing to her as you listened with her. She’s smiling down on you now when you still listen to them.
Amazing Grace has a great story behind it too, as I’m sure you know.
Yes I do! I love the old hymns- they have so much more substance than much of what is produced today. One of my favorite hymns is “In the Garden.” I look forward to one day, walking and talking with my Savior in the garden of heaven!
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That is a beautiful hymn, Cheryl, and a favorite of many of us. Isn’t it wonderful that though we can’t actually see Jesus walking beside us, we can walk and talk with him in the gardens or our lives.
I do find them inspiring.
My favorites to sing when I’m anxious or a little sad.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus and In The Garden
Author
Those are both beautiful old hymns with great tunes and wonderful words, Tammy.
Yes,I find myself singing old hymns almost every day around the house ,while cooking or cleaning. It sometimes brings joy to my soul and sometimes it calms my soul.
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I grew up hearing my mom sing hymns as she cooked in the kitchen, Lisa. I’ve never done that, but sometimes I hum them or sing them in my head. I’m sure your kids will remember you singing them and will smile the way I am right now about Mom singing them. One of her favorites was “Higher Ground.” So, it was one of the first hymns I learned to play on the piano.