God Moves in a Mysterious Way

I had never heard this hymn until Michael Cody informed me that he was going to reference it in his talk this summer on spiritual depression and fighting for joy. Over the past six weeks, it has quickly become one of my favorites. It is so good because in our most Job-esque moments, when we cannot see the light of the glory of Christ, when our guilt trumps our conceptions of grace, when darkness veils His lovely face, these words help us to rest in God's unchanging grace.

Few people understood that "God moves in a mysterious way" as deeply as William Cowper ("Cooper"), the poet who penned these words (and the words to other great hymns, such as "There is a Fountain Filled With Blood," "The Saints Should Never Be Dismayed," & "O for a Closer Walk with Thee"). Cowper (1731-1800) had attempted suicide three times before he moved in with the Unwin family and relocated with them to Olney,  a town famous for its pastor, John Newton.  Cowper & Newton built a relationship and Newton, composer of "Amazing Grace," asked Cowper to contribute to a hymnbook he was compiling. Cowper contributed hymns filled with such faith, but his bouts with insanity & depression continued. In 1773, he fell into another spell of insanity, believing that he was already irrevocably condemned to hell & that God was calling him to sacrifice his life. He battled depression on and off for the rest of his life, dying of dropsy in 1800.

Cowper had a tremendously hard life, but he was anchored in faith that, though he couldn't see or understand what God was doing, God knew (knows) exactly what He was (is) doing.

Though now known to us as the hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," Cowper entitled it "Light Shining Out of Darkness." Fitting indeed. 

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,
with never-failing skill,
he treasures up his bright designs,
and works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour:
the bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,

and he will make it plain.

Since we'd never heard the hymn before, we (the COB-1 crew on Beach Project this summer) made a new melody for it. We wanted to get the full band to play for this rendition, but we garage-band'd it the night before Judson had to head home & Cliff was sick, so it's just Alyson, Judson, and I in the back of the resource room. We want to try it again with a fuller sound, but this one'll do for now. To download it, right-click (or control-click, for you awesome Mac users) on the file listed under "Advanced Audio Coding" (it should be the one that says 5.9 MB) and save the linked file. You should be able to play it in iTunes or any other media player.

Or... check out all of Cowper's poetical works here!