The grand old hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way was written by William Cowper (pronounced Cooper), the English poet, friend of John Newton, who struggled all his life with depression. According to Ernest Emurian in Living Stories of Famous Hymns, William Cowper wrote this hymn following a period of almost suicidal depression. Calling for a carriage, he ordered the driver to take him to the Ouse River, three miles away, where he planned to kill himself. The driver lost his way in the dense fog, jogging up one road and down another as Cowper fell into a deep sleep. Several hours passed. Finally he returned him to his home. Cowper paid his fare, went inside, and pondered how he had been spared from harming himself by the merciful providence of God. That same evening in 1774, his forty-third year, reflecting on his narrow escape, he wrote this autobiographical hymn:
God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Cowper had come to understand that the dark storm he endured was the means by which God had chosen to reveal Himself. God rides upon the storm and uses it to perform wonders. Life is literally filled with God-appointed storms. These squalls surge across everyone’s horizon. When storms come we need to do more than just survive them. We need to ride upon them with God. Jesus intended to teach His disciples that very lesson in Matthew 14:22-33. The passage contains the familiar story of the disciples in a God appointed storm and Jesus walking on the water. The experience of the disciples can be a source of encouragement to us. When we encounter a storm we can rest on several assurances.
Recently a dear sweet lady who is a faithful member of my church came to me and asked me a very good biblical question. I love it when church members come to me with biblical questions because it reveals to me they are digging into the Word. Her question was regarding the verse in David’s great Psalm of confession, Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." She said, “I have read this verse many times. I don’t know if I have ever really thought about it or if I have always just focused on the first part of the verse, but what do you think it means, ‘grant me a willing spirit?’”
6. We are unwilling to bear the reproach of the gospel. There are some Christians who lack boldness and are unwilling to suffer rejection from the world for the gospel’s sake! Many want the benefits of the gospel but are unwilling to bear the reproach of the gospel. Timothy had this tendency and was at times a bit timid about sharing the gospel.
1. We are not soul conscious. What does it mean to be soul conscious? It means that we must realize everyone has a soul. A soul is that spiritual part of man that lives apart from the body with all the senses in tact. The soul will spend eternity in heaven or hell.
Graffiti from the 1800s discovered by workers renovating the Washington Monument has quite a different tone from that usually found today on the sides of buildings and subway cars. The markings in the lobby of the monument were covered over when it was decorated at the turn of the century. They were found when workers removed marble wainscoting as part of a year-long $500,000 renovation which was completed.
