Cowper, God, and Poetry: Part 2

Read Part 1 of Cowper, God, and Poetry here. 

God Moves in a Mysterious Way is the poem that introduced me to William Cowper. It was written in 1773 and was later set to music and published in a hymnal called Olney Hymns, compiled by John Newton. Newton and Cowper co-wrote the whole hymnal, Newton contributing about 208 hymns, and Cowper 68. Many are still sung today, like Newton's Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken and Cowper's There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. These hymns ministered to the saints of Olney, and today still minister to saints around the world.

But God Moves in a Mysterious Way is different than many other hymns and poems. It's really a declaration of God's sovereignty, a cry of trust even in tumultuous times. We don't sing too many hymns like those any more. And to add to its already unusual theme, the original title of the poem was just as unusual: Conflict: Light Shining Out of Darkness. I love that title, I think, better than the last one. It shows even more clearly exactly what this poem's about.

As we saw in the previous post, Cowper was not unfamiliar with the tumultuous times he writes about. All of his life he struggled with depression, attempting suicide on several occasions. But the darkness of conflict couldn't compare to the light of God's sovereignty. That's what Cowper set out to put to paper here. This poem is purported to be the last hymn that he wrote, a final declaration of the new, true purpose of his life. May this echo ours as well.

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 treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Those two stanzas open the poem. The first picture of God that Cowper paints is one of mystery. We can't see what God's plan holds. We see the wonders, we see the storm, but we must trust that His footsteps are there. The second picture we see of God is one of infinite knowledge. And in the way that Cowper sketches this attribute of God, he also sketches our own attribute of finite knowledge. We do not know "His bright designs" but He has "unfathomable mines/of never failing skill." Our job is not to stew and wonder. It's to trust "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.

Now Cowper's perspective shifts from focusing on God to focusing on us. I expect he speaks from experience when he calls us on our fear of God's sovereignty over suffering. Don't you love how there's almost a gentle rebuke in that "ye fearful saints," but an encouragement of comfort follows right after? The clouds that distress us are filled not with the rain of curses, but blessings. Those blessings may not necessarily be material things, or even the absence of suffering, but they will be good.

The second thing Cowper calls us on is our finite attempts to plumb the depths of God's infinite knowledge. Our sense is "feeble" compared to His, and it is a terrifying thought to attempt to "judge ... the Lord." Our job is not to question, but to "fresh courage take" and "trust [God] for His grace." His providence can seem like a frown sometimes, a relentless plan that sometimes causes pain, sometimes causes suffering. But it is all God's grace, for His glory and our good. There is the smile of joy in that.

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.

This is how Cowper ends the poem. There seems to be a dual focus here, on both the character of God and our response to it. God's plan is being fulfilled, whether we like it or not, and time marches on. This plan may taste bitter, we may cry as it stings our tongues, but it is only a fleeting time. Eternal joy will come. But we have a choice to how we respond to the suffering and the pain right now. Unbelief is not our answer. Neither is searching for a specific reason to the why. God knows what He does and why He does it. And one day, we will fully realize it. Cowper knew that. Do we?